Central & West Arkansas radar
KLZK Little Rock base reflectivity — the primary scan for Garland, Montgomery, Pike & Hot Spring counties.
A single jump-off point for spotters, hams, and residents around Lake Ouachita, Lake Hamilton, Lake Catherine, Lake Greeson, and DeGray Lake — the terrain around Hot Springs and Mt Ida that makes this county warning area's radar coverage tricky and local eyes worth having. Everything below opens the live source directly; nothing here is cached or delayed.
Statewide and regional sources maintained by NOAA/NWS — the same feeds NWS Little Rock forecasters use for briefings.
KLZK Little Rock base reflectivity — the primary scan for Garland, Montgomery, Pike & Hot Spring counties.
NWS point forecast for towns across the coverage area.
Camp Albert Pike: on June 11, 2010, the Little Missouri River rose from 3 feet to over 23 feet in under four hours here, catching campers overnight with no on-site ranger, no cell service, and no sirens — 20 people died. Check this forecast before anyone camps along the river.
NWS's zoomable map of live watches, warnings, and advisories in force.
Briefing packages, outlooks, and the forecaster discussion straight from the LZK office.
Submit or view crowd-sourced precip-type and hail reports — the same reports NWS ingests.
Crowd-sourced personal weather stations across the region, updated by the minute.
Live NWS/NOAA fire-weather, lightning-strike, and fuel-model layers flag candidate ignition points worth a spotter's eyes.
Convective outlooks and mesoscale discussions — the national picture behind the local forecast.
ARDOT's live 511 traveler map — check routes before heading out to spot or respond.
Live pool elevation and outflow for Ouachita, Hamilton, Catherine, Greeson, and DeGray, from NOAA and USGS gauges.
SondeHub live radiosonde position — useful for sonde chasing after the NWS Little Rock launch.
Fixed cameras and weather stations at elevation, run by the local AUXCOMM team — the closest thing this area has to ground truth between radar scans.
Lookout camera and Ambient Weather station on the High Peak site.
Camera link pendingLookout camera and Ambient Weather station on the West Mountain site.
Camera link pendingThe Skywarn net and after-action recap, for anyone off-radio during an activation.
Live audio of the Arkansas AUXCOMM net when a Skywarn activation is called.
Training recaps, exercise after-action video, and spotter talks from across the state program.
You don't need a license to watch this page — you need one to check in on the air and report what you see.
A Technician-class license is the entry ticket to Skywarn net participation on 2 meters and 70 centimeters — no Morse code has been required since 2007, and the exam is 35 multiple-choice questions pulled from a public question pool. Most first-time candidates pass after a weekend of focused study.
General and Extra class open up HF privileges used elsewhere in Arkansas AUXCOMM operations — useful once you're active locally, but not a prerequisite for your first net check-in.
Study the question pool. KB6NU's free No-Nonsense guide covers the current Technician pool in plain language.
KB6NU study guide ↗Drill with free practice exams. HamStudy tracks which questions you keep missing until you're consistently passing.
HamStudy practice exam ↗Sit the exam. Volunteer Examiner sessions run in-person and online across Arkansas most weeks.
Find a VE session ↗Plug into a local club. The Spa Amateur Radio Association is the Hot Springs-area club to join once you're licensed.
SPA Amateur Radio Assn. ↗Severe storm spotting is an inherently dangerous activity. Although the risks can be reduced, they cannot be completely eliminated. The storm spotter must take full responsibility for the consequences of their actions.
At all times, safety is the top priority of every storm spotter. You can do no one any good if you are reckless, careless, or inconsiderate. The public's reception or rejection of us, as storm spotters, may depend on only one encounter — and that might just be you.
It is recommended that storm chasing be done by experienced, advanced storm spotters who have had appropriate advanced training. The basic storm spotter is just as important — and may be more important — in a stationary position, because they can relay reports of the storm's progression as it passes their area.
Remember: everyone is just as important as everyone else. There are no individuals or heroes. We are a team, and we are only as strong as our weakest link.