St. Louis County R.A.C.E.S. and SKYWARN

"Taking the County by storm."

Program Background

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The St. Louis County SKYWARN and R.A.C.E.S. Programs are overseen by the Office of Emergency Management of St. Louis County Police Department.    The SKYWARN Program exists to assist St. Louis County and the National Weather Service in reporting of severe weather, dissemination of severe weather reports, and in gathering of related storm information through volunteer observers.  The collective efforts of trained citizens reporting by telephone, amateur radio operators through the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency service (R.A.C.E.S.), Civil Air Patrol volunteers, public safety participants, combined with safety information disseminated through the County Police warning systems comprise the St. Louis County SKYWARN Radio Network and the Weather Alert Radio Net (W.A.R.N.).  The objective is to obtain quality severe weather reports in a timely manner, resulting in faster, more accurate warnings, resulting in lives saved.

The St. Louis County SKYWARN Program in its present form has existed since 1975, however volunteer weather observers have been active in programs like the Ground Observer Corps since the early 1950s.  The term SKYWARN is a universal term describing severe weather observation networks.  It came into use after the significant tornado outbreak of 1974 as part of an effort to modernize SKYWARN weather observation programs and increase training.  SKYWARN programs are typically developed and operated by county governmental agencies with assistance from the local National Weather Service office.

The St. Louis County R.A.C.E.S. amateur radio program has existed since 1955.  The most significant disaster/emergency risk to St. Louis County is severe weather and as such, emergency operations related to severe weather damage and recovery are the primary function of the St. Louis County R.A.C.E.S. Program.  However, severe weather is far from the only R.A.C.E.S. program function, and amateur radio operators participating in the R.A.C.E.S. program may also be called upon to assist in other emergency situations in St. Louis County as they arise, based upon the situation and the need for emergency communications support.  Assistance is provided to a variety of public safety agencies, school districts, hospitals, American Red Cross, etc.  R.A.C.E.S. is not limited to SKYWARN operations nor is it just a “wartime operation”.  It is the premier amateur radio service program, managed by St. Louis County.  All amateur operators are welcomed to participate.

In July of 2001, the St. Louis County Police Department, Office of Emergency Management, was awarded the prestigious “Storm-Ready” certification, attesting to the preparedness and professionalism of the County’s SKYWARN Program.  St. Louis County was the first entity in the local National Weather service “county warning area” to receive this coveted distinction.  The program remains current with renewals in 2003, 2006 and 2009.

Reporting Criteria