eSpotter is Ready to go Across Southern Colorado!

What is eSpotter?

eSpotter is a way, via the internet, for official weather spotters to submit reportable weather directly to the National Weather Service Office in Pueblo.

Who is an official weather spotter?

When you signed up to be a volunteer weather spotter for us, you received a packet of information and a hail measuring card. That’s good enough to register for eSpotter. Although it is highly encouraged, you need not have attended a SKYWARN training session to be called an official weather spotter.

How do I register for eSpotter?

Go to this web site:

http://espotter.weather.gov

click “Register Here”, and fill out the form. The form requests the date and location that you last had SKYWARN spotter training. (If you have NOT attended a SKYWARN spotter training, put down the month and location you intend to attend SKYWARN spotter training. An idea of when classes may be offered in your area can be found at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pub/wcm/talks.php.) After you send your registration, you will receive an email confirming your registration into eSpotter, which will give you a password and other information. You can then log on to eSpotter and check it out. There is a tutorial, under Directions/Help which you can go through to familiarize yourself with the set up of the page.

Why eSpotter?

eSpotter is being developed to enhance and increase timely & accurate online spotter reporting as well as communications between spotters and their local weather forecast offices. Spotters can now not only relay weather information through eSpotter, but the National Weather Service and spotters can also exchange information by chatting on the web site. (At this time in its development, the chat feature is being considered for chats between NWS staff and local emergency management for severe weather briefings. Chat with individual spotters is still being considered when severe weather is imminent or occurring.)

Weather spotters are advised that reports with time-sensitive, critical and possibly life-saving information should be relayed through their ordinary communication methods FIRST!! This would be through amateur radio communication or by telephone.

After, relaying a time-sensitive, critical, and possibly life saving report, you may give follow up details by sending the information through eSpotter, with a note in your narrative indicating that information was first relayed to the Pueblo office through an alternate method (amateur radio, telephone, etc.)

Example 1: A weather spotter telephones the Pueblo office with a report of penny size (3/4 inch diameter) hail. The spotter could then follow up in eSpotter (perhaps 10 minutes later) that the hail has ended, and the larger hailstone was the size of a quarter.

Example 2: A weather spotter telephones with a report of a funnel cloud. This is a time-sensitive, critical and possibly life-saving report which must NOT initially be reported through eSpotter. So, the spotter did the right thing by calling the Pueblo office first. Spotters must NOT report real time sightings of funnel clouds and tornados via eSpotter.

Example 3: The Net Controller of a SKYWARN net can relay reports of severe weather through eSpotter during or after the SKYWARN net, depending on the volume of severe weather during the event. Of course, NWS Pueblo would be monitoring amateur radio during the event, logging all the reports possible, given the available staffing.

If you are signed up as an official weather spotter with NWS Pueblo, or if you are an Emergency Manager/Coordinator in southern Colorado, consider registering for eSpotter!