The History of Triad SKYWARN

1980's - Our origins can be dated back prior to the 1984 "Carolina's Outbreak" of tornadoes which brought about an increased interest in the SKYWARN program across North Carolina.  Up until that time, the amateur radio effort out of the Greensboro National Weather Service Office was the only one in the state.

1991 - First formally organized as "Greensboro SKYWARN" through the former Greensboro National Weather Service Office.  This was the first effort to bring an existing amateur radio "Weather Net" that dated back to prior to 1984 into a formal NWS SKYWARN Organization.  During this time, NWS SKYWARN Protocols and formal Spotter Training Classes were initiated.

1994 - Became "Triad SKYWARN" after the National Weather Service re-organization which decommissioned the old Greensboro NWS Office at Piedmont Triad International Airport.  (Incidentally, NWS weather balloon launches continue out of PTI on a daily basis.)

1994 - With the re-organization of NWS Offices and their respective County Warning Areas (CWAs), Triad SKYWARN began serving the Raleigh National Weather Service Office, as well as a second National Weather Service Office in Blacksburg, VA due to the inclusion of the Virginia border counties of Surry, Stokes, Rockingham and Caswell into their newly defined CWA.

2002 - Triad SKYWARN moved its primary operating frequency from 145.250 mhz W4GG repeater to the newly commissioned 147.255 mhz K4ITL Asheboro repeater due to its ability to cover the entire 12 counties within the Triad SKYWARN area.

2003 - With the inactivity of the former "Sandhills SKYWARN Program", Triad SKYWARN expanded from 9 to 12 counties with the adoption of Stanly, Montgomery and Moore Counties by request from the NWS Raleigh Office.

Triad SKYWARN has a long history of volunteer public service to the National Weather Service over the past 35+ years, including many memorable severe and winter weather events which have had a significant impact on central North Carolina, and we look forward to continuing to enhance the NWS forecasts many years into the future by providing "ground truth" observations during inclement weather events.

(Historical data provided by the present and former Emergency Coordiantors of the Greensboro/Triad SKYWARN Progarm: Steve Marks - N4SCM, Bill Boyes - KB1G and John Hamilton - NC4JH)

What is Triad SKYWARN?

Triad SKYWARN is an organization of severe weather spotters trained by the National Weather Service. Many of our Spotters are amateur radio operators who make use of portable and mobile radios to report severe weather conditions to the National Weather Service Offices in Raleigh, NC and Blacksburg, VA. The NWS Office also utilizes a specific telephone number, email and social media outlets to collect reports of criteria severe weather. These reports are used to verify existing severe weather warnings and are often used to assist the meteorologists in determining when and where additional warnings should be issued. 

Our trained severe weather spotters volunteer many hours each year to support the SKYWARN program.  We are responsible for providing severe weather information to and from counties in and around the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina in cooperation with the National Weather Service Offices in Raleigh, NC and Blacksburg, VA.

Our served counties include Alamance, Caswell, Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Rockingham, Stanly, Stokes, and Surry Counties in the state of North Carolina.

During severe weather events, and pending availability of a Net Control Operator (who are all volunteers with regular jobs/lives), Triad SKYWARN will be active on the 147.255 mhz K4ITL Asheboro repeater (or the subsequent back-up repeaters when a repeater is down - in descending order as listed on the home page) so that any reports of severe weather may be relayed to and from the National Weather Service.

Leadership Team

The leadership team is comprised of amateurs from around the Triad who coordinate the activities of Triad SKYWARN.  The team is made up of an Emergency Coordinator, an Assistant Emergency Coordinator (AEC) for Operations, a Net Manager, and an AEC for each of the coutnies in the Triad SKYWARN area.

Emergency Coordinator = John Hamilton - NC4JH

AEC Operations = Vacant

Net Manager = Vacant

AEC Alamance = Vacant

AEC Caswell = Vacant

AEC Davidson = Tim Hedrick - KI4QCN

AEC Forsyth = Vacant

AEC Guilford = Vacant

AEC Montgomery = Vacant

AEC Moore = Raymond Arnold - KG4CPM

AEC Randolph = Vacant

AEC Rockingham = Vacant

AEC Stanly = Vacant

AEC Stokes = Vacant

AEC Surry = Vacant