HOW DO YOU BECOME A WEATHER SPOTTER? I HEAR THE TERM ON MY WEATHER RADIO WHENEVER SEVERE WEATHER IS COMING.THEY ALSO USE THE TERM "SPOTTER ACTIVATION".

MIKE MOSS SAYS:     Ronald,     The spotters you hear reference to are volunteers who have been trained in sessions conducted by the National weather Service, and most are also Ham radio operators. "Spotter activation" means that when severe weather is anticipated, usually when a watch is in place for the region, a Ham radio "net" is established with a control point at the NWS office where nearly instantaneous reports of severe weather observations can be collected and taken into account in the forecast and warning process. If you have a scanner or other appropriate VHF radio you can listen in on this "Skywarn" net for our area by tuning to 146.88 MHz. For much more information about the local Skywarn spotter program, including links to a special Skywarm web site and a schedule for NWS training sessions, go to

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/skywarn/