The 13th Annual Skywarn Recognition Day (SRD) will be held at National Weather Service offices around the nation to celebrate the contributions amateur radio operators make during severe weather. The Des Moines National Weather Service (NWS) office, located at 9607 NW Beaver Drive in Johnston, will be open on Friday, December 2nd from 6 p.m. until midnight and again Saturday, December 3rd from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for storm spotters, amateur radio operators, and members of the interested public to visit the office, learn about the mission of the Mid-Iowa Skywarn Association (MISA) and to make radio contacts on HF and VHF/UHF. This is a way of saying “thank you” to storm spotters from the staff of the Des Moines NWS office.

While it’s not a formal contest, stations should try to contact as many other NWS offices and other non-NWS stations as possible. The Des Moines NWS office, using the station call sign K0DMX, will be operating on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands as well as on the linked MISA repeater system on VHF and UHF, including D-STAR. Around 100 NWS stations are expected to participate this year.

Even if you’re not able to make it to the Des Moines NWS office to participate in the event, all amateur radio operators within the range of a repeater on the MISA linked system is encouraged to make a contact on the linked system. If you can make a contact on both a VHF repeater and UHF repeater, please do! That would count as two contacts since it was made on two different bands.

Skywarn Recognition Day was created in 1999 by the National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) to recognize the importance that amateur radio provides during severe weather. Many NWS offices acquire real-time weather information from amateur radio operators in the field. These operators, for example, may report the position of a tornado, the height of flood waters, or damaging wind speeds during hurricanes. All of this information is critical to the mission of the NWS which is to preserve life and property. The special event celebrates this special contribution by amateur radio operators.

The 2011 Skywarn Recognition Day in Des Moines is organized jointly by the Des Moines National Weather Service staff and the Mid-Iowa Skywarn Association. Contact information, as well as details and updates will be available on the Mid-Iowa Skywarn Association website at http://www.midiowaskywarn.com.