Subject: SKYWARN 2020 Online Training Opportunities
Fresno ARES/RACES has arranged with NOAA Hanford for two Remote Learning SkyWarn Spotter 2020 certification courses on Wednesday September 2 (1800 to 2000) and Saturday September 5 (1300 to 1500). All pertinent details are described below.San Joaquin Valley Section ARES recommends that ARES Volunteers refresh their SkyWarn training at least every other year.This will be the first NOAA Hanford SkyWarn training in recent memory for which a Certificate of Completion will be issued.This Certificate will be suitable for documenting one of the four optional yet critically important SkyWarn ARES certification tasks in the current ARRL Emergency Communicator Position Task Book V2_1_1.pdf to progress beyond ARES Approval Level One to ARES Approval Level Two – the minimum qualification certifications required for ARES Mutual Aid Team (ARESMAT) deployment beyond your home ARES Unit’s Geographic Group ID’s Boundaries.All SJV ECs within the NOAA Hanford Forecast Region – Merced, Mariposa and Madera Counties & south – shall make this 2020 SkyWarn Training Opportunity available to all ARES Volunteers in their Jurisdictions.SJV’s Northern Tier Counties are welcome to participate in these two SkyWarn Training Sessions.
For ARES Emergency Communicator Position Task Book purposes in the San Joaquin Valley Section either NOAA Region’s SkyWarn Course & Certification is deemed suitable for ARES PTB qualification purposes in all 12 of the SJV Section Counties.Regarding the PTB: San Joaquin Valley Section ARES Operators already qualified and operational at Approval Levels Two and Three are herewith considered to have all Level 1 Training indefinitely ‘grandfathered’ so long as your AHJs and ARRL’s new Emergency Communications Directorate or you as ECs do not require otherwise.In addition to ensuring that all ARES Volunteers see this Training Announcement soonest, please consider sharing it with Amateur Radio Clubs & CERT groups operating in your Jurisdictions as well as all interested citizens and any First Responder Agencies you might have contact with in your ARES Group’s Jurisdiction’s Operational Areas.Thank you again Fresno ARES for a great job coordinating this essential training opportunity for Central California.The potential for simultaneous threats from varied sources (lighting caused fire clusters and Covid-19) which might cause AHJs to Activate ARES Resources has already become a ’new normal’ in many parts of California.In my never humble opinion about such things – NOAA’s SkyWarn Training is still the best example of ’See Something, Say Something’ and it predates DHS by I don’t even know how many decades.Cheers & 73,
…Dan Sohn wl7coo
San Joaquin Valley Section Emergency Coordinator
209.628.2242
[email protected] or [email protected]
Excerpted with slight edits from the Fresno ARES/RACES Training Announcement ‘soon to be available’ on fcemcomm.org …wl7cooWHAT:Please join the Fresno County ARES group in this unique public safety training opportunity and encourage those in your organization to attend and learn!Certificates of Completion will be issued to all who complete the course.You only need to attend one of the training courses, two sessions are offered for your convenience, both are via the very easy to use Go-To Meeting online client.WHO:All citizens and organizations interested in increasing their understanding of weather events.WHEN:Training Session 1: SEPTEMBER 2nd, 2020 from 6:00PM to 8:00PM Pacific Time (1800-2000 hrs)Training Session 2: SEPTEMBER 5th, 2020 from 1:00PM to 3:00PM Pacific Time (1300-1500 hrs)Same training – Two different days available.
For links to the meeting, please PM us (for security reasons).