Statement of Revision:  This document obsoletes all other active LAPCO SKYWARN operations manuals. This document combines the LAPCO Color Code system and OPS manual to one Standard Operations Procedure.

PURPOSE:

                The SKYWARN program was established to provide Communications Support for the National Weather Service office at North Webster, Indiana.. prior to and during severe weather that will affect Laporte County and the surrounding area.

SKYWARN OBJECTIVES:

                The objective of SKYWARN is to provide real-time weather information via available communications methods by trained severe weather spotter networks. Additionally, to provide weather data to the citizens and Governmental bodies of Laporte County and specific real-time formatted data for Emergency Management Agencies to facilitate after event responses.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:

                The SKYWARN program in Laporte County is a product of the INDIANA-MICHIGAN-OHIO SKYWARN program. This 37 county program is a direct result of the relationship between the National Weather Service and Amateur Radio’s natural communications and organizational structure. The IMO board of directors appoints a Quadrant Director which is in control of a specific warning area. In turn, a county director is appointed, if an existing workable program is not in place. The County Director will appoint assistant directors if need arises. Laporte county is located in QUADRANT 4 and there are six counties in the warning area. Net control and Liaison stations, as well as non-amateur spotters are under the control of the county directorships.

MEMBERSHIP:

                Any capable person or FCC licensed amateur radio operator, who is dedicated to serving the residents of Laporte County, may be a member in the SKYWARN program. This membership is voluntary and members do not need to be a member of any club, specific organization, or will be subject to join any other outside program. Members can terminate their association with IMO SKYWARN and the Laporte County system at any time. Members will not be subject to participate in any situation that they feel they have not been adequately trained for or feel qualified to do. Upon acceptance into the SKYWARN program, personal  data will be gathered and entered into a database system. This information is strictly confidential and accessible only by SKYWARN directorship and Emergency Response Agencies. Membership in SKYWARN does dictate a willingness to serve and to exhibit the effort to participate at the highest ability level. The Director in conjunction with any assistant directors reserves the right to revoke active spotter status of any SKYWARN member for unsafe practices or abuse of the program.

TRAINING:

                The primary purpose of SKYWARN is to provide trained emergency communications to the NWS and Local/State government of a weather specific nature. All active spotters must attend at least one basic training session every two years. New SKYWARN members are expected to attend a basic training session in their first year of not ever receiving formal training before their reports will be accepted without verification by another active spotter. Training sessions will be conducted by National Weather Service Official Representatives or an appropriate level SKYWARN Official.  A yearly review of current weatherspotting techniques and new information will be provided each year at these training sessions. All members of SKYWARN are urged to further their education in severe weather spotting and techniques.

COMMUNICATIONS:

                At present all communications conducted by Laporte County SKYWARN will be conducted on VHF 2 meter voice. All spotters must posses a minimum of an FCC Technician Class operators license to operate on this amateur band. Future exploratory modes and wireless techniques will be explored and possibly utilized.

REPEATERS AND FREQUENCIES:

                The Laporte County SKYWARN program utilizes multiple repeaters and simplex frequencies to establish double redundancy in case of catastrophic repeater failures and communications outages. The frequencies and repeater functions are as follows:…

PURPOSE                       CALLSIGN          PL tone                        FREQUENCY

PRIMARY NET Repeater W9LY            131.8hz                       146.970 MHz

Secondary Net Repeater    K9JSI             131.8hz                      146.610 MHz

Tertiary Net Repeater        KB9IAR        131.8hz                       146.865 MHz

*Quad EMERGENCY                                   --                             146.520 MHz

·         Used for Quadrant 4 wide emergency simplex frequency in case of wide area repeater outages. This freq will be used in the extreme cases only.

At all times stations should be prepared to relay simplex reports on any of the above frequencies from spotters that may be in fringe areas. All traffic passed during net operations is at the sole discretion of Net Control. There is to be no point to point communications between spotters unless specifically authorized by net control. These procedures will be discussed in detail in the ACTIVATIONS section of this manual.

ACTIVATION PROCEDURES AND METHODS:

                SKYWARN spotter activation may come from several sources, Laporte County SKYWARN Director, Asst. Directors, National Weather Service personnel, appointed Net Control or Liaison stations, the LAPCO SKYWARN Email Message/Alert System. Laporte County SKYWARN will activate when a severe weather front approaches the west boundary of Lake and Porter counties or 20 miles north of the Lake Michigan beachfront, or the midpoint of Jasper, Starke or Marshall counties when conditions exhibit impact on Laporte County directly. Past weather data concludes a majority of severe weather will approach from the west/southwest. SKYWARN nets may be activated by the National Weather Service at ANY TIME. Net Control/ Liaison stations can be activated by any of the above events at the discretion of the operator. In the event of a net activation, all activity will cease on the primary repeater frequency, and the frequency will be controlled by the Net Control Station who will adhere to the Net Operations procedure for the specific level of alert. Traffic unrelated to SKYWARN activities will be asked to move to another frequency as to minimize impact on potential severe weather traffic.   (cont. on next page)

Spotters will check in following the procedures and instructions set forth by Net Control. Spotters checking into an active CONDITION RED net must NOT leave the net without formally checking out with the NCS via… asking for permission to secure their station or NCS asks for them to check-out as the net is shutting down or their particular service is no longer required. It is CRITICAL that the NCS knows where the spotter is at all times.

LAPCO EMAIL MESSAGE/ALERT SYSTEM:

                This system was designed to alert SKYWARN members and other personnel subscribed of all types of  operations and weather related information. The following message status tags will be assigned to all traffic sent to the members of the email message system.

STATUS OF MESSAGE                                     DETAILS

ROUTINE                                                            Standard basic information. This                                                                              level will NOT contain alerts/color codes.

PRIORITY                                                           Elevated attention given to message contents.

                                                                             May contain CONDITION BLUE message,

                                                                             or attached weather information/documents.

URGENT                                                                Extreme attention to message contents.

                                                                                Content requires IMMEDIATE review

                                                                                May contain Critical Information/Instructions

COLOR CODE USE AND NET CONTROL PARAMATERS:

                The following system is to define Net Control operations and to utilize a stepped level activation program, based on a simple color coded reference guide. These colors are also used for Email alerts.

CONDITION BLUE

                This is the starting point for all Laporte County SKYWARN weather alerts/email notifications.

The county SKYWARN Director and/or Assistant Directors will issue a CONDITION BLUE message via the LAPCO SKYWARN Email Message/Alert system. This is commonly referred to as a “blue sky” warning, as there is no immediate danger of impending severe weather. The announcement will contain general indications of possible severe weather over the next 24/48 hrs and likelihood’s of spotter activation’s.  This information is a product of information gathered by the National Weather Service and the Storm Prediction Center as well as reviewed by the directorship of Laporte County. Pay attention to NOAA weather radio broadcasts, and local news outlets as well as Email for possible storm developments. The SKYWARN program will be in a STANDBY only state and no official SKYWARN net will be established.

CONDITION GREEN

                The Laporte County SKYWARN program will issue a CONDITION GREEN message when the National Weather Service and/or the Severe Storms Prediction Center has issued a WATCH of any type for the Laporte County area. Basic administrative functions will begin, Directors will assure there is an available Net Control Station, spotters should be available to check into the net on the NCS directions. Mobile spotters/stormchasers should begin to prep to move for storm intercepts or to secure viewing locations. The Net Control station will keep spotters informed as bulletins/information becomes available. Net status is in the first stage of  full SKYWARN ACTIVATION. Spotters should be on the air or monitoring for possible rapid changes in the weather.

CONDITION YELLOW

                This level of activation may be superseded by  CONDITION RED at any time. The Laporte County Net Control will issue a CONDITION YELLOW message upon receipt of any spotter report from outside the county notifying Net Control of approaching weather, or any report of severe weather conditions developing or escalating inside the borders of the county. This condition is used when Severe Weather is IMMINENT. At this time NCS will begin logging checkins to the net if this has not already been performed. All spotters will be activated via on-air bulletins over the county repeaters or via telephone calling tree.

Net Control will contact both the Laporte County and Michigan City Emergency Management Agencies at this time and notify them of net activation and status.  Spotter reports will be taken at this time and will be subject to NWS CRITERIA or Net Control Station requests for information on current conditions. All normal repeater operation will cease. Net Status can evolve form GREEN to RED at any time during the net, spotters must be at the highest awareness level at this time. Spotter reports taken during YELLOW OR GREEN nets may be the trigger for the NWS to issue a WARNING for the county. Mobile spotters should be in position to move to intercept or observe approaching weather.

CONDITION RED

                The Laporte County SKYWARN Net Control Station will issue a CONDITON RED message when the NWS issues a Tornado OR Severe Thunderstorm WARNING for the county. RED means that there is an active weather event in the county at the present time. This is the highest level of activation. Spotters must be on the lookout for Tornadoes that are on the ground or halfway down from the cloudbase, Micro/Macrobursts, and other potentially destructive events, i.e.  flash flooding, flying debris, down powerlines. Spotters will report ONLY severe weather criteria matching events at this time….no other reports will be accepted. Spotters  must pay attention to the NCS and be ready to seek shelter or intercept (IF PROPERLY TRAINED) the stormtrack. Mobile stormtrackers with live information will be critical to the Net Control and will be given the HIGHEST priority. The NCS will contact the Laporte County EC if that person is not already on the net as well as the Laporte County Emergency Management Agency, and the Michigan City Emergency Management Agency via telephone and give them an update. Exercise extreme caution and be aware of your surroundings and possible escape routes. Remember…Stations checked in under Conditions Yellow/Red must officially be checked out by Net Control. DO NOT MAKE US SEND SOMEONE TO LOOK FOR YOU!!!  If for some reason you are unable to transmit, a properly trained NCS will recognize the problem. You should report to NCS as soon as you are out of harms way and there is a lull in repeater activity.

NET STANDOWN PROCEDURE:

                In the event that severe weather dissipates or has passed through the area with little or no damage, the NCS will begin checking out stations. NCS will ask if any stations wish to check out at that time, or stations may initiate the request to “secure their station”. Net control will advise checked out stations if their services may be required later on during the day/night. SKYWARN net status will downgrade to CONDITION GREEN at this time, or the net will be disbanded.

ARES NET HANDOFF PROCEDURE:

                In the event of severe weather impacting the area and causing widespread damage, Laporte County SKYWARN Net Control will turn over control of net frequencies to the Laporte County ARES/RACES Emergency Coordinator, and SKYWARN will operate only in the background as a support function in case of development of more severe weather.

SPOTTER REPORTING PROCEDURES:

                When reporting weather conditions, the spotter will give the NCS briefly what was seen….. in the following order of importance.

1.       Callsign and Location

2.       What you have seen…

       A:  Tornado, Funnel cloud, Wall Cloud

       B:  ANY report of hail.. estimate size or measure using inch scale

       C:  Winds above 58mph.. use wind estimating guide

       D:  Heavy rainfall

       E:  Heavy lightning in a small area

       F:  Ball lightning or unusual type lightning

3.       What the time of the event was..  use Laporte county time…

4.       Where you saw what you are reporting, give directions based on relative position to towns or major highways, make sure to report weather or not you are in the counties borders especially if you are on a storm intercept/chase.

                Example:  3 miles north and 1 mile west of Laporte City.

       Check your map before reporting! KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!

5:    Stay calm and be professional, ALWAYS ASSUME THE PUBLIC IS LISTENING IN

       ON SCANNERS

6:    Estimated Direction and speed of the cell you are tracking

7:    End report with Callsign and await further instructions from NCS

WHAT NOT TO DO:

                Do not make unneeded reports to anyone!!  I.E. news reporters, general public. Avoid conjecture and speculation. Please use good judgment in reporting, if you are unable to formulate a report ask for assistance from Net Control.  Report ONLY what YOU see!!!

                Example of what not to report:

                                “ This is AB9ABC, it has started raining here, howabout you?

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Your safety and that of the general public depend on what we see as SKYWARN participants. Please be attentive and alert to what happens around you. Observe applicable laws and stay out of the way of pedestrian and automobile traffic. Use Amber emergency lights or 4-way flashers in damage/weather areas.  Cary SKYWARN or EMA ID’S at ALL TIMES. Attempt to assist injured persons by notifying net control of situation. Do NOT enter disaster area unless specifically authorized, stay away from downed electrical lines or damaged utilities. Avoid open flame and hazardous materials spills or pools of unknown liquids. Remember our job is to observe and report as fast as possible, what you see and what you report can save many lives and increase the National Weather Services lead time for warnings. YOU ARE IMPORTANT!

This document is the property of Laporte County SKYWARN and may not be altered or added to without the express permission of the Laporte County SKYWARN Directors. Possession assumes agreement..

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