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SKYWARN is a nationwide National Weather Service (NWS) program of volunteer weather spotters who report hazardous weather to local NWS offices. SKYWARN volunteers are trained by NWS personnel to recognize features associated with rapidly developing, mature, and dissipating thunderstorms which cause hazardous weather. SKYWARN spotters also provide reports of heavy snow, heavy rain and flooding. These spotters provide ground truth observation information on the atmosphere that the NWS meteorologists use along with information from radar, satellites and various reporting stations to provide better forecasts and warnings in their coverage area. When the NWS issues a warning or watch statement, the Du Page Amateur Radio Club (DARC) SKYWARN net is activated on the DARC repeater system. The DARC primary Skywarn repeater at 145.43 MHz output frequency (-600 KHz offset) with a 107.2 Hz PL. Additionally, the DARC 220 repeater [224.68 MHz (-1.6 MHz offset) with a 110.9 Hz PL] is “linked” to the 2M repeater. The DARC 440 repeater [442.550 MHz (+5 MHz offset) with a 114.8 Hz PL] is also used as “backup” NWS liaison. In the event that both the primary and secondary repeaters fail during a net, we will attempt to to operate on 145.43 MHz simplex (NO PL). Listen on the DARC repeater and for Emergency Alert System (EAS) warning announcements and NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) for watch, warning specifics. While all weather radios will report ALL weather warnings broadcasted by the National Weather Service, some Weather Radios come with Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) capability that (when programmed with the appropriate Federal Information and Processing Standards (FIPS Code) will set off an alarm for any warnings specific to your area (County). The FIPS code for DuPage and surrounding Counties are:
DARC SKYWARN program coordinators forward the county reports to the Chicago NWS office in Romeoville. DARC conducts a SKYWARN training net on the first Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m. (March thru September) and monthly, on the first Thursday of the month (Jan, Feb, Oct, Nov, Dec). If you’re interested in becoming a net control station or are just interested in becoming involved in the DuPage Amateur Radio Club SKYWARN program, you should contact nospamskywarn@ameritech.net . All amateurs are encouraged to check into the Net.
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Send mail tonospamskywarn@ameritech.net with questions or comments about the content of this web site.
This Severe Weather website is hosted and maintained by the DuPage Amateur Radio Club (DARC) and provides direct links (and link information relating to severe weather and emergency preparedness) to websites created and maintained by “third-parties.” DARC makes no warranties or representations, either express or implied, with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of these “third-party” websites. Information may be changed or updated without notice and may contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. DARC shall not be liable for damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the use of these websites.
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