Everyone should also have a ham radio with saved frequencies that skywarn and storm-spotters use for their county and surrounding counties.

That’s been my #1 tool in addition to live radar feeds.

I found this video several years ago.  Considering the damage to the building, I’m pretty impressed, especially considering the main contents of the safe.

I remember driving through years back. Well after the storm. It was weird how everything was new and all the trees were tiny little things. Then you would drive out and suddenly huge trees and older buildings.

Same with Joplin.

This is true. The scars of a major tornado last at least a full generation - maybe two. Hell, I was in Joplin four years ago and you could clearly see where the tornado went through. It was eerie.

I was traveling through the area, and I almost stopped at a place that got flattened.

Thank you for this

Where could I find a list of these frequencies?
I'm the weatherbug for all my friends/family, I do my very best to stay on top of weather and warn/make aware anyone that may be in the path of a tornado. An extra tool like that would be immensely helpful.

It's still that way, Papa lived by the high school, rode it out laying next to his bath tub.   Thank God because the attic fan motor ended up in the tub.  He passed about 5 yrs ago at 96.  

Some areas are better updated and provide better information than others.  A good source is getting a list of repeaters for your state or surrounding counties.  Some areas will have Skywarn operating on their main frequency with storm chasers operation on another.  The Skywarn frequencies should be noted somewhere on the list with a primary & secondary designation but programming all repeater frequencies in your area is always a good idea. Be aware that these frequencies can change with damage to the repeaters as well as expiration of licenses.


Here’s a List Skywarn frequencies for North Texas.

https://wx5fwd.org/cwafrequencies


Repeater List for Texas

https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/Display_SS.php?state_id=48&band=14&loc=%25&call=%25&use=%25


Skywarn Repeater List for Oklahoma

https://www.radioreference.com/db/aid/1871


There may also be other sources for frequencies in these areas in addition to these sites.

Added - Be aware of storm paths and monitor the adjacent counties first to hears what’s going on there to see how strong the storm sill be when it reaches your county/area.  A few years ago, I monitored a storm that had pea sized hail when entering the west side of Denton County and grew to golfball sized hail when exiting Denton county and entered Collin County.  In Collin County, hail size grew from golfball to baseball to softball before exiting and the storm dying down in severity.

This is great, thank you for taking the time to put that together. Hopefully some other folks can find it useful too.
I really need to get a good console radio, or upgrade my handheld.

I LOL'd when I saw this and know you picked the U.P. I guess maybe it's not really a blizzard if it's the normal weather.

I’ve been monitoring for several years now but only got my ham license in 2018 just to check off an item on my bucket list.  I don’t have or even felt I needed a base or mobile unit.  I’ve got a couple of Yaesu handhelds  (FT-270 & VX-8) and a some Baofengs with a slim jim antenna and a Diamond SRHF 40A bendable antenna.  There’s a whole lot better setups but these have worked for me at home and in the truck.

I would recommend a better brand of radio besides the Baofeng just for the audio quality of the speaker, with a possible external speaker system as well.  Extra features of the higher end handhelds like ability to monitor dual frequencies at the same time are nice, too.

Hope this helps…

Slim Jim Antenna Source.
https://n9taxlabs.com/shop/ols/products/dual-band-slim-jim-antenna-with-10-or-16-foot-cable

Diamond SRHF 40A Antenna
https://eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=6949



This site has some bonafide ham and Skywarn operators so I’m sure someone can add a little better info than what I have here.  Again, this is what I found that works very well for me and my area of Texas.