Steps to Becoming a Certified Weather Spotter

Last updated 4 weeks ago. Our resources are updated regularly but please keep in mind that links, programs, policies, and contact information do change.

A weather spotter’s description of hail or a flooded road can fill a gap in what radar tells forecasters. The National Weather Service (NWS) uses reports from the trained volunteers in its SKYWARN program when making decisions about severe-weather warnings.

NWS encourages anyone interested in public service to volunteer, and its training is free and typically takes about two hours. Each local office decides which training it recognizes and how reports are made, so finishing a national online course may still leave a local class to take.

What being a weather spotter means

SKYWARN is a volunteer program with between 350,000 and 400,000 trained severe weather spotters. SKYWARN volunteers report severe thunderstorms as well as heavy snow, heavy rain and flooding.

The program is nationwide, but recognition of its training is handled locally. The agency’s instruction on the program said there was no national training standard as of August 17, 2022, the date it took effect. The instruction gives local NWS officials authority over the training curriculum, methods and recognition process. Treat a certificate as evidence of the training its issuer recognizes, and confirm the serving office’s requirements rather than assuming a single national qualification.

NWS encourages anyone with an interest in public service to participate, including private citizens and people responsible for protecting others. The NWS office in Cheyenne, Wyoming, opens its public spotter classes to people with no prior experience or training.

An amateur radio license is not required to make a weather report, although radio operators help many local networks relay reports. Before buying equipment, ask the local office which reporting methods it uses.

1. Find the office serving your area

To find the local NWS office, visit weather.gov and enter your location in the top left corner, as the agency instructs. The local office can help with upcoming classes when a training schedule is missing. Start there rather than choosing a class solely because its advertisement promises a certificate.

NWS says class schedules vary by office and training is not typically offered throughout the year. The NWS office in Albany, New York, lists in-person and virtual courses on its SKYWARN page and posts registration links as courses are finalized.

Albany recommends spotting for adults, welcomes middle and high school students at training with a parent or other adult, and normally awards certificates to participants age 16 or older. People younger than 16 who want a certificate from that office and can present special circumstances are evaluated case by case. For a younger volunteer, ask the office about attending training and participating safely instead of assuming that another office’s age rule applies.

2. Choose training the local office accepts

NWS spotter training is free and typically lasts about two hours. The basic topics include thunderstorm development, storm structure and recognizing potentially severe weather features. Training also covers what to report, how to send a report and basic severe-weather safety. The practical skill is distinguishing a meaningful observation from a dramatic-looking cloud or an uncertain guess.

The free online SKYWARN spotter course, known as the MetEd course, includes two modules: Role of the SKYWARN Spotter and SKYWARN Spotter Convective Basics. Convective Basics covers severe-thunderstorm observation, reporting procedures, safety and identifying storm features. Use the national SKYWARN page to reach its online training, then confirm which courses the local office accepts.

Some offices also ask participants to take a local class to learn about weather unique to their area. The NWS New York office requires an office-hosted SKYWARN class to earn its certification and spotter identification card. An online course can be good preparation, but it may not complete the local enrollment process.

3. Complete enrollment and save the reporting instructions

After its class, the New York office assigns a spotter identification number and adds the participant to its SKYWARN database. The NWS Boston/Norton office issues cards at in-person classes with the reporting phone number and criteria, but no individual spotter number.

The NWS Charleston, West Virginia, office records volunteers’ location and contact information at training and provides instructions on what and when to report. At the end of a class, confirm that any requested registration is complete and save the reporting number or form. Ask whether a certificate or identification card is supplied, and keep it with the instructions.

4. Make the report useful to forecasters

NWS asks reports to identify the observer, describe the event, give the time it happened and locate the event using familiar roads or landmarks. The location of the weather may be different from the observer’s position, and the event time may be earlier than the call.

The NWS Weather Spotter’s Field Guide asks for the size of the largest hailstone and any damage. It says to measure hail with a ruler or compare it to well-known objects such as coins or balls, but not to marbles. Give the size that can be supported by the observation, without making it sound more precise than it is.

For wind, the field guide recommends estimated or measured speed and damage reports, and says a detailed description of damage or moving objects is often more useful than a speed estimate. NWS reporting guidance specifically asks spotters to distinguish estimated wind gusts from measured ones.

For flooding, the field guide asks about affected roadways, rivers or streams, approximate water depth, whether water is standing or flowing, whether it is rising or falling, and damage. Describe what is visible from safety; getting closer to obtain a better measurement is not the objective.

A wall cloud is a localized, persistent lowering from the rain-free base of a thunderstorm, and not every wall cloud rotates. A funnel cloud is a funnel-shaped cloud associated with rotating air that is not in contact with the ground.

For wall clouds, the guide asks whether they are rotating and how long they have existed; for funnel clouds, it asks observers to watch for organization, persistence and rotation. NWS tells observers to express uncertainty when unsure and to report what has happened or is happening, rather than what they think will happen.

Boston/Norton accepts reports by the phone number supplied at training, its online form, and hazardous-weather information through its Facebook or X accounts. Use the channels and reporting criteria supplied by the office serving the event location.

5. Put safety ahead of the observation

The Charleston office says reports can come from home, the office or the road without travel to a particular location, and should be made from a safe place. For that office, spotting does not mean chasing storms. The NWS field guide makes the safety of the observer and others the first priority.

The guide warns against trying to walk or drive across flooded roads or downed power lines. A useful report is never a reason to cross an unsafe route.

Lightning calls for the same caution. In its beach lightning-safety example, NWS tells people hearing thunder to go to their car rather than an open picnic shelter and wait 30 minutes after the last thunder before returning. Pause observing when staying outside would conflict with that guidance.

6. Confirm refresher training and a new office’s requirements

The Albany office strongly recommends attending live training or an online webinar at least once every two years. That is one office’s schedule; ask the serving office how often to refresh training, and keep its contact details with the reporting instructions.

The NWS office in Nashville, Tennessee, tells class participants living elsewhere to contact their own office because reporting methods can vary. After a move, contact the new NWS office before assuming an old course or spotter number completes its process.