For Information on Tropical Cyclone activity, monitor

National Hurricane Center

and the NWS Jacksonville Tropical Weather Page

For information on Severe Weather activity, monitor

Weather Alert Radio Information

Click on the graphic below for information about NOAA Weather Alert Radios

And click below to learn how to set your receiver to receive only messages for your area.
(Specific Area Message Encoding -- SAME)

Links to Other Sites

The following sites sites provide valuable information.

National Weather Service

National Weather Service Home Page
National Weather Service Jacksonville, FL Home Page
NWS JAX Short Range Base Reflectivity Radar
NOAA Satellite Services Division
NOAA GOES Satellite Views (many options)
NOAA Realtime Tropical Storm Specific Satellite Views
NOAA Hazard Mapping System Fire and Smoke Product
NWS Melborne, FL Short Range Base Reflectivity Radar
NWS Tampa, FL Short Range Base Reflectivity Radar
All NWS Radar Sites
National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center
National Weather Service National Hurricane Center
National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center
National Center for Environmental Prediction Model Analysis
NOAA Tsunami Preparedness Page

Other Weather Links (Non-governmental)

Tropical Atlantic Storm Models
[Click on Storm Name, Scroll down, select product]
CrownWeather.com Tropical
SpaghettiModels.com
Google Crisis Map (many options during active crisis)
Anything Weather
Ohio State University Weather
Unisys Weather
Another Source for Environmental Prediction Models
Tropical Cyclone Model Guidance
Newsemergency.com
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Courses
Home Emergency and Disaster Safety
Natural Disaster Safety
Disaster Preparation Links
The Weather Channel
Weather Underground
WESH2 TV Doppler Radar
WFTV9 TV Doppler Radar

Contact Us

The Skywarn Program

Skywarn is a program developed by the National Weather Service (NWS) to enable people to report severe weather conditions to the local Weather Service office. Meteorologists from the local NWS office teach both basic and advanced classes in various communities in their coverage area.

The Basic Skywarn class teaches fundamental elements of storm spotting. The Advanced class expands on this information, going into more detail.

The next Flagler County Skywarn courses, Basic and Advanced in one session, will be held at the Flagler County Emergency Operations Center in Bunnell, FL.  They will be taught by a National Weather Service Jacksonville meteorologist. To sign up, call Bob Pickering, Emergency Management Technician, at (386) 313-4250 or e-mail BP@flagleremergency.com.

[IMPORTANT: Skywarn Classes may be canceled with short notice should severe weather or a tropical cyclone pose a threat to the forecast area. All potential class attendees should check on the day of the class to insure that the class has not been canceled.]

Who Can Be A Storm Spotter?

Flagler Skywarn storm spotters are trained by staff of the National Weather Service in Jacksonville, Fl. The classes are free and anyone can become a Skywarn storm spotter.

Classes in Flagler County are generally held at the Flagler County Emergency Operations Center. Pre-registration is required. During our tropical weather season, NWS meterologists are frequently required to be on duty at headquarters and there are usually no classes scheduled locally.

Flagler Skywarn Radio Operations

You do not have to be a radio operator to be a Skywarn Storm Spotter, but two groups of local radio communicators activate radio networks during severe weather events to collect reports and pass them on to the NWS JAX Weather Service. They are the Flagler County Assist  and the Flagler Emergency Communications Association ham radio operators.

Most members of each of these organizations are trained Skywarn Spotters. Members report sightings and observations to the net control operator, who in turn passes information meeting severe criteria on to the forecasters at the NWS JAX headquarters. These observations are a significant help to forecasters since radar images cannot always record low level activity. Skywarn Net Control Operators receive further training to insure that radio nets are in compliance with Flagler Skywarn Net Policy jointly developed by the sponsoring radio communications organizations.

If you are a radio operator or would like to become one, click on the links to each of these organizations for further information.

Radio Frequencies

Flagler Skywarn uses two radio services for Skywarn Nets. They are the two meter amateur radio (ham) band and the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). OPERATING ON ANY OF THESE FREQUENCY BANDS REQUIRES A SPECIFIC FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION LICENSE. Of course anyone who has a scanner can listen in. Frequencies used are:

Amateur Radio

146.745 PL 123.0 Designated Primary Skywarn repeater

or, if needed,

145.470 PL 123.0 Secondary Skywarn repeater

GMRS

462.700 PL 192.8 FCA Team 4800 Tac 8 repeater

or, if needed, either

462.600 PL 156.7 REACT Team 4800 Tac 10 repeater or
462.550 PL 141.3 REACT Team 4800 Tac 9 repeater

Most Skywarn Nets are "directed nets" and all radio traffic must go through the designated Net Control Station (NCS) for the duration of the net.

Even if you are not a licensed radio operator, you can monitor these frequencies on most scanner radios.

[NOTE: A "repeater" receives a signal on one frequency and simultaneously retransmits it on another, enabling radio operators to communicate over longer distances. Radios must be "repeater capable" to use this feature. In Flagler County, most amateur radio and GMRS repeaters are maintained by the Flagler Emergency Communications Association (FECA).]