St. Louis County Skywarn System
A part of the Weather Alert Radio Network (WARN)
by Michael G. Redman, Program Coordinator, updated 1-25-97
The St. Louis County RACES/SKYWARN Program is a service of the Office of Emergency Management, St. Louis County
Police Department. The program in its present form has been in existence since 1975, although weather spotting in
this area dates back to the mid 1950s when spotters were part of the Ground Observer Corps. Weather spotters report
their findings by amateur radio, Civil Air Patrol radio, Red Cross radio, GMRS radio, Public Safety radio, and by
telephone hotline. There are about 650 trained observers in this program. The St. Louis County R.A.C.E.S. (Radio Amateur
Civil Emergency Service) Program has been in existence since 1955, and is the premier amateur radio service organization
in St. Louis County. R.A.C.E.S. members are available to assist local government and related agencies in any emergency
or disaster situation that may arise, but are most commonly utilized for severe weather observation and reporting services.
Our programs are open to anyone including those outside of the area (we are not an "amateur-radio only" group). Several
all-day training programs are offered in the Spring, with Level 1 (Basic) training in the morning and Level 2 (Advanced)
training in the afternoon. Also offered is a Damage Assessment Class and training for Lead Operators. An Amateur Radio
"No-Code Technician" class is also offered in the Spring, meeting on Monday evenings from April through June, and
commencing in a testing session at our facility. NWS staff teach the Level 1 and Level 2 training if available; if
not I teach them myself. Training information (dates, locations, etc.) is distributed starting in January of each
year. There is no charge for the training and all are welcome. Training certificates and spotter ID numbers are issued.
The St. Louis County RACES/SKYWARN Program is a member of MIRSA, the Missouri-Illinois Regional SKYWARN Association.
MIRSA is a group of emergency management officials, NWS (National Weather Service) staff, local SKYWARN net operators,
and related personnel who gather bi-monthly to discuss developments, net operations, etc. Net operations are conducted
at the NWS office in Weldon Spring on one or more of these frequencies:
* 145.330 Mhz. Central/South Central/Northeast Missouri
* 146.670 Mhz. St. Louis Metropolitan Area
* 145.130 Mhz. Southwest Illinois
Each county/region operates their own network, and most feed information into the NWS nets. The regional nets also
disperse weather bulletins on their net frequencies. St. Louis County has additional access to the NWS by NAWAS
(National Warning System) direct line telephone. Also available are the Missouri Weather Wire teletype network and EMWIN.
EMWIN is retransmitted by St. Louis County on 460.425 Mhz.
St. Louis County RACES/SKYWARN participates in an area wide amateur radio weather net exercise each Spring in concert
with the annual statewide Tornado Warning Exercise, usually scheduled on a Tuesday in early March. A practice net is
conducted when the exercise is held (during the day) and again in the evening along with other regional networks. St.
Louis County provides information to schools, hospitals, and other facilities who also take part in the drill, many of
which are amateur-radio equipped. School tornado safety surveys are provided as needed at no cost.
There are a number of ways to report information to the St. Louis County R.A.C.E.S. / SKYWARN Network. While amateur
frequencies are monitored for all severe weather events, most tornado watches require activation of the Emergency
Operations Center where these reporting frequencies are monitored:
* 146.940 Primary (This is the best place to find us)
* 146.910 Backup
* 146.970 Backup
* 442.100 Alternate
* 224.980 Alternate
* 462.650 GMRS Repeaters (tones 131.8 &77.0 for licensed SKYWARN participants)
* 47.420 Red Cross (for Red Cros staff)
* 148.150 Civil Air Patrol (for Civil Air Patrol members)
* as well as various county public safety agencies
Weather broadcasts are copied and redistributed on these frequencies:
* 155.865 (tone 151.4)
* 154.725 (tone 103.5)
* Packet radio is also available.
Telephone lines include:
* 314-889-2510 Severe weather reporting hotline (if those who report by phone are unable to reach NWS)
* 314-615-7857 Severe weather information (training dates, etc.)
For additional information, please contact Michael G. Redman, KAØYXU/WCØAAF, at:
office phone 314-615-5362
facsimile 314-889-3698
electronic mail Michael_Redman@stlouisco.com
regular mail PO Box 16673, Clayton, MO, 63105
Training is performed in March and April of each year; for training information contact Mike Redman between January
and April, if postings do not appear elsewhere.
