Volunteer Opportunities

Snow Across the Great Lakes, Central Appalachians, and Northeast; Unsettled Weather in the West

Light to moderate snow will continue into Saturday over the Great Lakes, Central Appalachians, and Northeast. This weekend into next week, a series of atmospheric rivers will bring gusty winds, periods of heavy rain, and mountain snow to northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Colder temperatures are in store for the weekend from the Great Lakes to East Coast. Read More >

Volunteer To Help Your National Weather Service

CoCoRaHS – The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network

A 100% volunteer-driven, non-profit network of observers who measure 24 hour precipitation. It started in Colorado in 1998, and has since spread to all 50 States and parts of Canada. All you need is an inexpensive 4-inch diameter rain gauge, a ruler graduated in 1/10ths of an inch for measuring snow, a connection to the internet, and an interest in weather!

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CWOP – The Citizen Weather Observing Program

A volunteer-based network that allows owners of personal weather stations to share their station’s live data with the National Weather Service, emergency managers, wildland firefighters, and universities worldwide. There are several options to getting your data online – inexpensive (even free) software programs, and extremely reliable, energy-efficient ‘internet devices.’ If you have a well-sited home weather station, and a broadband internet connection, you’re just a few steps away from contributing your data to CWOP.

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SKYWARN®â€‹ – Severe Weather Spotters

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.

Click here for spotter training dates.

mPING – Meteorological Phenomena Identification Near the Ground

mPING is a project designed to collect weather information from the public through their smart phone or mobile device with GPS location capabilities. Using the free mPING app, anyone can submit a weather observation anonymously. The data immediately goes into a database at NSSL and is displayed on a map that is accessible to everyone. mPING was deployed in 2012 and developed through a partnership between NOAA/NSSL, the University of Oklahoma, and the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies.

More Information

COOP – NWS Cooperative Weather Observer Program

The COOP is the oldest volunteer observer program run by the National Weather Service. It forms the backbone of the nation's climate network. In this program, observers diligently record observations on a daily basis, consisting of precipitation, snowfall, high and low temperatures, as well as evaporation and soil temperatures at some sites. Data is sent by way of the internet or telephone to the local National Weather Service office. Their data is distributed to the public by way of NWS products and is also archived at the National Climatic Data Center. Because of limited funding, participation in the COOP program is strictly on a needs basis as determined by the National Weather Service.