SKYWARN is a concept developed in the early 1970s that was
intended to promote a cooperative effort between the National
Weather Service and communities. The emphasis of the effort is
often focused on the storm spotter, an individual who takes a
position near their community and reports wind gusts, hail size,
rainfall, and cloud formations that could signal a developing
tornado. Another part of SKYWARN is the receipt and effective
distribution of National Weather Service information. The
organization of spotters and the distribution of warning
information may lay with the National Weather Service or with an
emergency management agency within the community. This agency
could be a police or fire department, or often is an emergency
management/service group (what people might still think of as
civil defense groups). This varies across the country however,
with local national weather service offices taking the lead in
some locations, while emergency management takes the lead in
other areas. SKYWARN is not a club