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Wlaf1450By Charlie Hutson
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- The Campbell County Amateur Radio Club hosted a weather spotter class on Tuesday evening at the Campbell County (La Follette) Campus of Roane State Community College. This class is known as SKYWARN, NOAA and National Weather Service approved training for anyone interested in learning more about weather indicators.
TOP PHOTO: More than 30 folks attended Tuesday night’s SKYWARN class.
Instructor Greg Williams (above) K4HSM, the District 5 Coordinator, welcomed the more than 30 people attending Tuesday’s training. The class was comprised of ham radio operators (amateur radio), scouts and folks who had an interest. Greg said, “you don’t have to be a ham to take the class”.
The class was a little more than two hours, and at the end, there was a test, and you received a certificate. Greg shared a lot of information about the National Weather Service (NWS) and how it gathers information and tracks storms through radar and spotters.
Williams explained how weather spotters fill the void where radar may not see the bottom end of a storm where it rides close to the ground. “That’s where the spotter comes in. They in turn provide that information to the NWS, located at Morristown for our area. Spotters are a very important part of gathering storm information for public safety,” said Williams.
Williams has been licensed since 1993 (original call sign KE4HSM) and involved with SKYWARN since 1995 as a Net Control Station. He became Assistant Coordinator in 2011, assisting alongside Jason Roach (KF4VDX, SK) and Chuck Angel (K4KKH, SK) before becoming the District 5 Coordinator in 2018.
East Tennessee SKYWARN serves the amateur radio community covered by the National Weather Service at Morristown.
“Operations are conducted primarily on the 146.940 (PL 118.8) repeater on Greentop (Bluff) Mountain near Sevierville, with a backup on 146.625 (PL 118.8) atop Chilhowee Mountain. Both are maintained by Tim Berry, WB4GBI. “We also have an alternate 147.360 (PL 100.0) repeater here in La Follette when severe weather is in that part of the region. This repeater is maintained by Todd Overbay, KA4OAK,” said Johnny McDonald, K4WND, a member of the Campbell County Amateur Radio Club.
A monthly training net is held on the first Sunday of the month at 8 pm (or the second Sunday if impacted by a holiday or severe weather) on the 146.940 WB4GBI repeater (118.8Hz tone if active).
While officially serving District 5 (Campbell, Anderson, Blount, Knox, Loudon, and Union counties), the system’s wide coverage allows participation from across many counties in East and Middle Tennessee, SE Kentucky, and SW Virginia. All licensed amateur radio operators are welcome to check in and report conditions.
East Tennessee SKYWARN plays a key role in delivering real-time weather information to both the National Weather Service and local media.
Visit the SKYWARN website. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-09/09/2026-6AM-SOME TEXT AND PHOTO COURTESY OF ET SKYWARN)