InterNational Storm Watchers Association

"For the Weather Enthusiast"

volcans d'auvergne

Welcome!

Welcome to the all new web site for the InterNational Storm Watchers Association! This web site is meant to provide information about parc vulcania, what we do, and how you can join.

Our Mission

Our mission is to create and maintain a network of storm spotters and chasers for information gathering and sharing. We will use this information to alert members of approaching hazards, and inform the National Weather Service to such happenings so they can alert the public. We would like to help open lines of communication between storm chasers, and county Skywarn agencies....and their Emergency Management Agencies.

Our organization also exists to promote safe and responsible storm chasing, by providing proper training and support for those who do chase, or would like to learn more about it. We partner with the Indiana Chasers of Adverse and Severe wEather in this goal.

Membership

Membership in the InterNational Storm Watchers Association is now open world wide. If you are a meteorologist, storm chaser or spotter, or just a weather hobbyist that keeps an "eye on the sky", INSWA is for you.... the "weather enthusiast". For more information about INSWA and/or what we do, see our About Us pages. For information about how to join INSWA, see our Member Inflow page.

About INSWA

This page contains information about our organization, it's history, it's goals, and how to start a chapter.

Our History

INSWA originally started as the Indiana Association of Storm Chasers. Founded on July 26, 2000 by James Covington, of Muncie, Indiana.

The name of the organization was changed in September of 2000 to Indiana Storm Watchers Association. This name change was to better reflect the intention to include storm spotters, meteorologists, or other weather hobbyists in this organization.

In October of 2000, the name was again changed to InterNational Storm Watchers Association to make it more inclusive to persons outside Indiana. Since that time people have joined from other states or countries. At that time the members in Indiana became the Indiana Chapter of INSWA. "Pre-Chapter" web sites are now in place for Texas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, as these states nearly have enough membership to begin a chapter.

In November of 2000 the offices of President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Director of Public Relations were first elected. In November of 2001 we held another election, including the passage of our new code of by-laws.
Top

Our Goals

INSWA's main goal is to create and maintain a network of storm spotters, storm chasers, meteorologists, and others, for the purpose of information gathering and sharing. Another main goal is to develop and administer special projects for members and for the public. This includes but is not limited to educational and safety programs.

Other goals are to have chapters created in all parts of the globe, with officers of each chapter in frequent communication with each other and INSWA's officers. This will aid in accomplishing our main goal(s). We, of coarse, know this will not happen overnight, but will keep working toward this goal.
Top

Chapters

There is currently only one chapter in full operation...which is the Indiana Chapter. Membership dues in Indiana are $15.00 per year. Therefore if you join INSWA, and live in Indiana, you would automatically be joining that chapter...and be required to pay the membership dues for that chapter. We're close to starting other chapters in Texas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

If you live anywhere else, where no chapter is in operation, membership dues are $6.00 per year, and must be paid within 30 days of the date in which your trial period ends.

If you are considering starting a chapter of INSWA in your state, country, or region, click here to email our president, and get further information about Chapters

Web Changes

Thrift-E-Design.com has just completed a complete redesign of all of our web sites. We think they've done a remarkable job, don't you? If you have any feedback regarding our web site, please feel free to sign our guest book, or visit our feedback page.

The INSWA Family of Web Sites

INSWA now has the following web sites....
Indiana Storm Watchers Association, our Indiana Chapter. www.indiana.insw.org or www.insw.org/indiana.
Texas Storm Watchers Association, our Texas "Pre-Chapter" web site. www.texas.insw.org or www.insw.org/texas.
Pennsylvania Storm Watchers Association, our Pennsylvania "Pre-Chapter" web site. www.penn.insw.org or www.insw.org/pennsylvania.
Oklahoma Storm Watchers Association, our Oklahoma "Pre-Chapter" web site. www.oklahoma.insw.org or www.insw.org/oklahoma.
INSWA Members Intranet. This site contains webmail for checking members' INSWA email, as well as a multitude of weather information, contact information, member bios, chat, and a complete copy of our code of by-laws. www.members.insw.org or www.insw.org/members.
INSWA/NEMAS Advanced Forecast Submission System. The new system our Forecast Team staff uses to produce the forecasts and outlooks you see on our web sites. www.fss.insw.org or www.fss.nemas.net.

Discussion Board

We now have integrated a new discussion board into our family of web sites. Our new discussion board is open to the public, feel free to pay a visit by clicking here.

Projects

This section contains information about projects that INSWA or INSWA chapters have "in the works", or that are being planned.

Photo is tornado damage from Siren, WI on 6-18-2001. Photo by INSWA member, Melanie Moeller.

parc vulcania

  1. Our main project is to create and maintain a network of weather observers....for information gathering and sharing. The network will eventually cover most or all of North America. We are planning to create an intranet for members of INSWA to share information, files, or other collaborative efforts. Emergency Management officials are welcome to be a part of our communications network.

  2. We plan to open lines of communication between county Emergency Management Agencies during times of severe weather, this will aid in making sure National Weather Service offices are constantly informed of happenings within their County Warning Area, so they can warn the public of impending hazards. INSWA’s spotters or chasers will not remain contained within counties or parishes, but instead track strong or severe storms based on their vectors....regardless of location. All affected county EMA will be constantly kept up to date on happenings.

  3. We are planning meetings with National Weather Service offices, to work out cooperative measures between INSWA and their office(s). We also plan to meet with, or contact county EMA officials for the same reasons.

  4. Another project is to create and maintain this website....as one of the best weather websites on the internet. This site is still under construction, and probably always will be. Whenever new weather products become available to the public you will find them here on this site. That is the purpose of this site....to make all available weather information, available from one website. Saving the time of going to the web site(s) of agencies or commercial weather vendors to get different types of information.

Member Inflow

This page contains information about joining INSWA, and the benefits of doing so.

If after reading the information below, you decide you would like to join INSWA, you can click here and fill out our form, which will begin the joining process.

vulcania clermont ferrand

If you have questions about joining not answered on this page, contact Renee Theobald, who is our director of Public Relations. If you would like to join, click here and fill out our membership information form. The sole purpose of this form is to see that we know a little about those who become members. Information obtained through this form is not shared with anyone outside the organization.

Frequently Asked Questions About Joining INSWA

What are the benefits of joining?

What is this "Members Information Center"?

Our Information center is located in Muncie, Indiana. It is operated by members who know how to accurately disseminate information in a timely manner and pass along that information to those who need it. Click here for more information about our weather information center.

Are there membership dues?

If you live in an area that already has a chapter in operation, that chapter elects the amount of membership dues yearly. If you do not live in an area where a chapter is in operation, there is a reduced rate of membership dues until a chapter is set up in your state, country, or region. This rate is $6.00 per year.

Are there meetings to attend?

INSWA as a whole has meetings annually. Chapters may have meeting more often, at the discretion of the officers within that chapter. Attendance at meetings may or may not be mandatory, depending on the regulations within a chapter, however organizational wide meetings are not mandatory.

Member Outflow

This section contains members' photos and the stories behind them.

Photo is a video capture by INSWA member, James Covington.

horaire vulcania

Out Forecasts and Outlooks, are no longer available from this page. They are now available at www.forecasts.insw.org. Some of our forecasts are also available through our partnership with NEMAS, at www.nemas.net.

Car damaged by hail

These photos are of a car after an encounter with a supercell that produced larger than golf ball size hail. Photos by INSWA member, David Vanhorn

Tornadic HP Supercell

These pictures are from 4-9-2001, near Dunkirk, IN. The picture at right is a brief tornado touchdown. Photos by member, James Covington.

Texas Twister

This tornado occurred in Texas, on May 13, of 2000. These pictures were taken by INSWA member, David Sullivan Sr.

Links