Monitoring the Wichita County TX Skywarn on the evening of Friday, May 22 2020. The Wichita Falls, TX area is under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 8 PM CDT, with 60 MPH wind gusts and tennis ball size hail possible. A report was called in at 2052 Eastern of ping-pong sized hail along I-44.
579 listeners are tracking this rebroadcast on Broadcastify as of 2112 Eastern. "This broadcast will be on the W5US 146.940 Skywarn Repeater used by trained spotters covering Wichita and Archer county in Texas. This repeater is active during all significant weather events that occur in the area."
Local broadcast TV coverage includes KAUZ Newschannel 6.
A 2019 Times Record News story has photos of Charlie W5GPO and his shack with radar and radios showing his net control station. W5GPO was net control for tonight's net up until 2116 Eastern.
In a 2016 blog from Jay W9LW there is discussion of a decision to close this net during severe weather, making it only available to members of the local ARES group. A further update regarding that controversy was a signal from the Texas ARES coordinator that all ARES nets in that state were to be conducted on frequencies open to all licensed amateurs. The concern was for storm chasers not local to the area pursuing tornadoes for fun and profit, and interrupting safety-related efforts. I was not able to determine the current status of this dispute, but there was no sign of any conflict on tonight's net.
A Terrible Tuesday in 1979 is the subject of an audiobook. "A recording of the actual radio transmissions of members of the Wichita County Amateur Radio Emergency Service, operating as SKYWARN Storm Spotters, during the large tornado that struck Wichita Falls, Texas, on April 10, 1979."
