I am pleased to announce that the Mountain Counties Skywarn is in place and over time I believe that this will prove to be a very beneficial public service for the Communities within the coverage area. 

The main need that we have is to get the information out on the Skywarn Net. I am requesting that this information can be passed along to local Amateur Radio Clubs, ARES Coordinators or anyone that could be of assistance. 

At this time we do not have a scheduled weekly net so we are relying on other means of communication to our Local Amateur Community, such as email, general area nets, social media, word of mouth, ect.. We are in a mutual effort with the North Central West Virginia Skywarn Net, the National Weather Service in Charleston and all other respective agencies to support Skywarn and amateur radio in the mountain state and surrounding counties in the nearby states.

The Official Counties we will activate an official Skywarn net for is Severe warnings in the following counties. Taylor, Barbour,Garett, Randolph, Upshur, Lewis and Harrison. I expect we will have check ins far outside this area and net control can include other counties as they see fit. This can also be modified as time goes on when we get a good idea of the actual coverage of the repeater. Skywarn standby obviously can take place when severe weather is outside these counties with the potential of moving into our area.  I would like to see a lot of repeater activity especially during Skywarn standby mode to get interest and activity in what we are doing. 

We do recommend that if there is an Activated Skywarn Net with partner groups (such as the  North Central West Virginia Skywarn Net  on 145.430) that if you are in that immediate area you attempt to pass traffic through that route if possible. There may be instances that it’s not possible due to repeater coverage or higher than usual amounts of traffic. Regardless both of the Net’s will coordinate between each other to ensure that Severe Weather reports are submitted to the appropriate NWS office. 

This weekend appears to have a decent chance of our first Skywarn Activation. We have a fairly uncommon day 4 slight risk for our area. We will see what the next few days bring with updated models. 

Please send me a specific email if you would like to be considered for being net control at any point or be in training for net control station. Looking for any and all Amateurs for participation. 

If you would like to be included in SKYWARN NET updates such as severe weather forecasts and data from the NWS when severe weather approaches. Let me know and I will add you to the list. 

Thank you and 73