Sogn Valley Skywarn Inc

SKYWARN is a voluntary program developed by each National Weather Service (NWS) Office where volunteers serve as storm spotters for the NWS and local emergency management programs. Keeping their eyes on the sky, volunteers serve as the eyes and ears for the whole community. Storm spotters come from all walks of life but they all have generally two things in common - an interest in the weather and an interest in serving their community.

The goal of SKYWARN is to improve the warning program by delivering timely severe weather notifications.

As a group, Sogn Valley SKYWARN started operations during the spring of 2017. At the time our primary focus had been on western Goodhue County, however, we are now a county-wide based public service group striving to assist and protect ALL individuals within Goodhue County.

SKYWARN training in severe storm identification comes from our local NWS office located in Chanhassen (Twin Cites). Often, another organization, such as emergency management, law enforcement, fire departments or rescue squads, amateur radio groups or citizen volunteers, is the back-bone of the SKYWARN effort in a particular community.

NWS Twin Cities needs real time reports of hail size, wind damage, flash flooding, heavy rain, and tornado development in order to effectively warn the public. Even as new technology allows NWS Twin Cities to issue warnings with more lead time, spotters will ALWAYS be needed as a link between radar indications of severe weather and ground truth information!