SKYWARN® is an organized nationwide group of volunteers who are trained to recognize and report severe weather events to the National Weather Service, with the goal of saving lives by improving warning accuracy. Since 1965, people across the USA have given their time and skills to the SKYWARN® program, and amateur "Ham" radio has played the vital role in the collection of local storm reports for the National Weather Service field offices.

SKYWARN® programs are organized by local Emergency Management and/or Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) groups. Our Team was initially formed in 2020 by a group of Ham Operators who saw the need for SKYWARN®  in the Piedmont region of the Carolinas. We're a part of Gaston County ARES and endorsed by Gaston County Emergency Management offices.

Although formed in Gaston County, NC, Gaston Regional SKYWARN® now administers the SKYWARN® program throughout the Regional Warning Area which includes the 9 counties (Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Union (NC), and York (SC)) we cover for GSP. SKYWARN® Ham radio nets are classified as: Public Safety Nets.

Gaston Regional SKYWARN® Team is Trademarked by the NWS and consists of specially trained Federal Communications Commission licensed amateur radio (Ham) operators, who operate weekly on-air communication networks and Severe Weather Nets, to collect and relay reports & information to our region's National Weather's Service Area Field Office & Weather Radar facility, Greenville-Spartanburg: NWS/GSP. Our active FCC Ham Radio volunteers have completed their NWS SKYWARN® training program and are NWS Certified Spotters.

Licensed Ham radio operators are encouraged to check-in to our weekly radio nets and Severe Weather Activated SKYWARN® Nets with reports of severe weather, meeting NWS criteria.

Any who are interested in becoming an FCC licensed Ham Radio Operator, can contact us for information on how to get started in this exciting radio hobby.