NCSU AMS Hosts SKYWARN Training and BSA Merit Badge College

On the evening of March 14th, NCSU AMS hosted the SKYWARN Basic Training with meteorologist Ryan Ellis of Raleigh’s National Weather Service (NWS). Students and members of the general public were provided with the opportunity to either join or update their involvement in the SKYWARN trained storm spotter network. Initially, NCSU’s Student AMS Chapter annually joined together with meteorologists from Raleigh’s NWS to provide a dual-offering of the basic and advanced SKYWARN training seminars in the early fall. However, students and employees at NWS Raleigh jointly decided it would be beneficial to try offering a basic training session ahead of the spring severe weather season. The dual-offering of the SKYWARN training hosted by NCSU’s AMS in the fall will be scheduled over the coming months with a date to be announced by mid-August, so stay tuned!​

The National Weather Service (NWS) SKYWARN program is a network of trained volunteer weather spotters that support their local community by providing timely and accurate severe weather reports to their local NWS forecast offices. Information from these reports are used in conjunction with NWS technologies to make informed decisions and improve severe weather warnings to protect life and property ahead of threatening weather conditions. More information and a schedule of upcoming SKYWARN training sessions offered by NWS Raleigh can be found here.

NWS Raleigh meteorologist Ryan Ellis leads SKYWARN training attendees in a discussion differentiating severe weather watches, warnings, and advisories.

On April 1st, students from the NCSU AMS student chapter provided a day of instructional seminars on the basics of meteorology for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Merit Badge College on NCSU’s campus. Twenty-four boy scouts of all ages and their scout leaders participated in a series of interactive educational presentations covering many aspects of weather and climate phenomena in compliance with the BSA’s requirements for the Weather Merit Badge. Following lunch and a social period between the boy scouts and NCSU Meteorology students, an educational tour and presentation was held at the local Raleigh NWS office on NCSU’s Centennial Campus led by Raleigh NWS meteorologist Brandon Vincent.
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This was the second year AMS hosted members of BSA to assist Boy Scouts across North Carolina with their efforts to earn a Weather Merit Badge. Many of the boy scouts and their scout leaders shared their personal interests and stories regarding weather, resulting in a fun and educational experience for the scouts and hopefully the inspiration of a few future meteorology students. Members of NCSU AMS enjoyed the day with the scouts and look forward to assisting in the event again next year!

​Contributors:
Authors/Editors: Shaelyn McLamb, Levi Lovell, Alex Mitchell
Faculty Review Board: Dr. Jay Levine