Storm spotter training

Become a trained storm spotter.

Official spotter training is free: a SKYWARN class from your local National Weather Service forecast office, or NWS-aligned courses online on MetEd. Pick whichever fits your schedule. Neither needs any experience.

Find a SKYWARN class Start on MetEd

Both links leave WxAlerts for official sites.

A cloud-to-ground lightning strike beneath a supercell at dusk, seen across open plains — Photographer: Chris Spannagle. Imagery is drawn from public-domain federal collections: NOAA Photo Library, NSSL galleries, WFO galleries. WxAlerts is not affiliated with or endorsed by NOAA or the National Weather Service.

Two ways to get trained

A class near you, or a course online.

Both teach what to look for under a storm, what is worth reporting, and how to stay safe while you do it. Plenty of spotters do both.

In person or online, from the NWS

Take a SKYWARN class

SKYWARN is the National Weather Service's own volunteer spotter program. Classes are free and run by your local NWS forecast office, often in late winter and spring before storm season, and many offices also hold them online. The NWS keeps a list of every forecast office's SKYWARN page, and your office's page lists its upcoming classes.

Find a SKYWARN class weather.gov/skywarn/wfo_links

Online, at your own pace

Start on MetEd

MetEd, from the UCAR COMET program, publishes free NWS-aligned spotter training you can take online whenever suits you. It needs a free MetEd account, and finishing a course gives you a certificate.

Start on MetEd meted.ucar.edu

Already trained? You can upload your SKYWARN or MetEd certificate to your WxAlerts spotter account.

Knowledge base

Reference reading for spotters.

Eleven topics to read before a class, look things up in after one, or keep handy between seasons: storm structure, rotation (9 articles), hail and wind, flooding, radar (10 articles), safety and reporting. It is a knowledge base, not a course, and it does not replace SKYWARN or MetEd training.

New to all of it? Start with the plain-English page, which explains what a spotter and a warning are before any of the jargon.

87 articles · about 39.5 hrs to read every one · free, no account11 of 11 topics written so far

01Role of the spotter & the warning systemWhere your call actually enters the warning decision, and where it does not.7 articlesRead 02Thunderstorm fundamentalsLifecycle, single-cell, multicell, supercell and QLCS structure.8 articlesRead 03Cloud & storm-structure identificationWall cloud, shelf cloud, scud, funnel, mammatus. The identifications people most often get wrong.11 articlesRead 04Identifying rotationMesocyclone cues, the RFD clear slot, and telling scud motion from real rotation.9 articlesRead 05Hail & wind estimationCoin and ball references, measured versus estimated, and the biases in your own numbers.8 articlesRead 06Flash floodingDepth against a curb, why the rain stops moving, and the hazard that kills more people than tornadoes.7 articlesRead 07What, when and how to reportCriteria copied from NWS source, plus wording and timing that a forecaster can act on.6 articlesRead 08Spotter safety & positioningThe car and the lightning kill more spotters than the tornado does. Built around that.8 articlesRead 09Radar basics for spottersReflectivity, velocity, beam height, and the artifacts that fool experienced people.10 articlesRead 10CommunicationsEvery channel into a forecast office, and what to do when the network is gone.6 articlesRead 11Legal, liability & ethicsThe immunity that excludes driving, the name you may not use, and honesty nobody enforces.7 articlesRead

Every article lists the NWS publications and peer-reviewed papers it was built from, so any figure on it can be checked at the source.

The numbers that make a report usable

Aligned to NWS severe weather reporting criteria

Severe hail1.00 inQuarter size or larger. Report all sizes; severe is the quarter threshold.

Severe wind gust58 mph50 knots, or any wind damage. Report gusts at or above 40 mph, always stating measured versus estimated.

TornadoGround contactA condensation funnel touching the ground, or debris rotating beneath it. Aloft with neither is a funnel cloud.

Flash flooding1 in/hrRainfall rate above an inch an hour, water over roads, or property threatened.

Report locationNamed townDistance and direction from a named town, an intersection, or latitude and longitude.

Report timeOccurrenceThe time the event happened, not the time you called it in.

Before you start

The things people ask first.

Mostly from people who assumed this was not for them. If yours is not here, ask on Discord or through support.

What is SKYWARN?

The National Weather Service's volunteer storm spotter program. Spotters report what they see under a storm, such as hail, damaging wind, flooding or a tornado, to their local forecast office, and those reports feed into warnings. Training is free and run by the local NWS office.

How do I find a SKYWARN class?

Use the NWS list of forecast office SKYWARN pages (weather.gov/skywarn/wfo_links) and open your local office's page, which lists its upcoming classes. Many offices teach in late winter and spring ahead of storm season, and many also run classes online.

Can I take spotter training online?

Yes. MetEd, from the UCAR COMET program, publishes free NWS-aligned spotter courses you can take at your own pace with a free account. Many NWS offices also run their SKYWARN classes online.

Do I need experience, or to chase storms?

No to both. Classes start from the basics, and spotting means reporting what you can see from where you already are: a house, a workplace, a road you were already on. Chasing is a separate hobby with its own risks.

What are the modules on this page?

A free knowledge base: reference articles on storm structure, rotation, hail and wind, flooding, radar, safety and reporting, with the NWS publications and papers each one was built from. They are useful before or after a class, but they are not a course, and reading them does not make you a trained spotter.

How do I add my spotter training to the WxAlerts app?

Upload the certificate from your SKYWARN class or MetEd course to your spotter account. WxAlerts records what the certificate says; it does not train or certify spotters itself.

Is WxAlerts part of the National Weather Service?

No. WxAlerts is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NOAA or the National Weather Service. Official SKYWARN certification is issued by your local NWS forecast office.