Amateur Radio Operator & Avid SKYWARN Spotter Awarded as a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador of Excellence

Pictured (L to R): NWS Jackson Meteorologist Dustin Jordan, Official Emergency Stations Appointee of Kentucky ARES District 9 & Southeast KY SKYWARN Member Joe Warren, NWS Jackson Meteorologist Jonathan Guseman.

Joe Warren, Official Emergency Stations Appointee of Kentucky ARES District 9 and active member of Southeast Kentucky SKYWARN, was recognized as a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador of Excellence in Corbin, KY following Advanced SKYWARN spotter training on Monday, February 4, 2019.

Joe routinely advocates the spirit of the Weather-Ready Nation initiative by advertising SKYWARN spotter training through amateur radio nets performed twice per week. He also uses this platform to promote the potential for severe weather hazards through the use of NWS forecasts and weather graphics. This helps foster awareness of any impending hazardous weather to his spotter group and frequently incorporates important weather preparedness information. Joe routinely activates SKYWARN nets that help relay crucial severe weather reports to the NWS. These reports are pivotal to issuing and updating severe weather warnings for the sake of protecting life and property.

Each National Weather Service office across the country was tasked with naming an "Ambassador of Excellence". The award is meant to recognize those WRN Ambassadors who have made significant contributions to building a Weather-Ready Nation. Click here to view all of the Ambassadors of Excellence from across the country.

NOAA’s Weather-Ready Nation is building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather, water and climate events. To achieve this goal, the National Weather Service is working with its partners, but requires the participation and commitment of a vast nationwide network of Ambassadors. Everyday, Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors serve a pivotal role in affecting societal change, sharing safety messaging, serving as an example, and highlighting successes - all helping to build a Weather-Ready Nation!

For more information on the Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador initiative or how to become an ambassador, visit: https://www.weather.gov/wrn/ambassadors.