SKYWARN Storm Spotters should attend the annual training sessions provided by National Weather Service (NWS). Those sessions give spotters the basic information they need to safely and effectively provide severe weather reports. You are considered a trained spotter by attending a training session. Attending annually also gives you updates on the latest training information. Safety is the primary concern of the training.

If you missed the scheduled training sessions, there is spotter reference material and training on the Internet. This material is useful to the trained spotter as well.

• Annual Training Schedule starting in January
• Preparedness and Storm Spotter Information
• An Introduction to Storm Observation and Reporting
• Basic Spotters Field Guide by NWS – PDF Format
• The Storm Spotter’s Checklist Handout (2019) - PDF Format
• Storm Spotter Guide - PDF Format
• Training Videos - Norman OK - YouTube
• Basic Radar - Norman OK - YouTube
• Radar Fundamentals (free registry required)
• Warning Decision Training Division Courses
• Dual-Polarization Radar Training for NWS Partners

The Storm Spotters Checklist handout provided by the National Weather Service (NWS) includes a sub-section titled "SKYWARN Reporting Methods" www.weather.gov/fwd/skywarn-report. "Amateur Radio: WX5FWD" is at the top of the list.

From time to time we are asked to provide details about using amateur radio for storm spotter activity such as methods,frequencies, repeaters, or local storm spotter groups. The WX5FWD.org web site attempts to provide some of this information on various pages. Hopefully, this brief page will help organize and reference this information.

Emergency traffic, tornado activity or weather that is an imminent threat to life and/or property has top priority.

This guideline applies to the Fort Worth NWS SKYWARN® Radio Desk EchoLink and Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) conference during SKYWARN® weather events. See the RoIP page for other details on connecting to the conference. See "How to Submit A Report to NWS Fort Worth" for additional sotter reporting information.