Local SkyWarn

2024-25 WFO Lake Charles
SKYWARN Class Schedule

Date	Parish/County	Time	Location	City	Contact Info
January 27	Calcasieu	1:00 pm	Calcasieu OHSEP 901 Lakeshore Dr	Lake Charles	Jason Lionberger jlionberger@calcasieu.gov
PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER FOR ADDITIONAL DATES

For additional information on the local NWS Lake Charles SKYWARN program, please contact:

Doug Cramer, Warning Coordination Meteorologist
(337) 477-5285 x223
doug.cramer@noaa.gov

What is SKYWARN®?

The effects of severe weather are felt every year by many Americans. To obtain critical weather information, NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, established SKYWARN® with partner organizations. SKYWARN® is a volunteer program with nearly 290,000 trained severe weather spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service.

Although SKYWARN® spotters provide essential information for all types of weather hazards, the main responsibility of a SKYWARN® spotter is to identify and describe severe local storms. In the average year, 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods and more than 1,000 tornadoes occur across the United States. These events threatened lives and property.

Since the program started in the 1970s, the information provided by SKYWARN® spotters, coupled with Doppler radar technology, improved satellite and other data, has enabled NWS to issue more timely and accurate warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash floods.

SKYWARN® storm spotters are part of the ranks of citizens who form the Nation's first line of defense against severe weather. There can be no finer reward than to know that their efforts have given communities the precious gift of time--seconds and minutes that can help save lives.

Who is Eligible?

NWS encourages anyone with an interest in public service and access to communication, such HAM radio, to join the SKYWARN® program. Volunteers include police and fire personnel, dispatchers, EMS workers, public utility workers and other concerned private citizens. Individuals affiliated with hospitals, schools, churches, nursing homes or who have a responsibility for protecting others are also encouraged to become a spotter.

How Can I Get Involved?

NWS has 122 local Weather Forecast Offices, each with a Warning Coordination Meteorologist, who is responsible for administering the SKYWARN® program in their local area. Training is conducted at these local offices and covers:

Basics of thunderstorm development
Fundamentals of storm structure
Identifying potential severe weather features
Information to report
How to report information
Basic severe weather safety

For additional information, click here.

Local SkyWarn

For additional information on the local NWS Lake Charles SKYWARN program, please contact:

Doug Cramer, Warning Coordination Meteorologist (337) 477-5285 x223 doug.cramer@noaa.gov

What is SKYWARN®?

Doug Cramer, Warning Coordination Meteorologist
(337) 477-5285 x223
doug.cramer@noaa.gov