A local storm report is transmitted by the National Weather Service

National Weather Service

The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...

 of what it receives from storm spotter

Storm spotter

A storm spotter is a specific type of weather spotter who actively maintains a visual watch of the development and progression of specific weather events while actively relaying important information to the local weather agency in a timely manner.- History :...

s such as amateur radio operator

Amateur radio operator

An amateur radio operator is an individual who typically uses equipment at an amateur radio station to engage in two-way personal communications with other similar individuals on radio frequencies assigned to the amateur radio service. Amateur radio operators have been granted an amateur radio...

s, storm chaser

Storm chaser

Storm chaser can refer to:*Storm chasing, the pursuit of any severe weather condition*Storm Chaser, registered US Service Mark for Warren Faidley confirmed by the US Trademark Office as the first, full-time, professional storm chasing journalist...

s, law enforcement, civil defense

Civil defense

Civil defense, civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery...

 (now emergency management

Emergency management

Emergency management is the generic name of an interdisciplinary field dealing with the strategic organizational management processes used to protect critical assets of an organization from hazard risks that can cause events like disasters or catastrophes and to ensure the continuance of the...

), firefighter

Firefighter

Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...

s, EMTs

Emergency medical technician

Emergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...

, or citizens about severe weather

Severe weather

Severe weather phenomena are weather conditions that are hazardous to human life and property.- Examples Include :Severe weather can occur under a variety of situations, but three characteristics are generally needed: a temperature or moisture boundary, moisture, and , instability in the...

 conditions in their area. Those reports go to the local National Weather Service office and can be used to issue severe thunderstorm warning

Severe thunderstorm warning

A severe thunderstorm warning is issued when trained storm spotters or a Doppler weather radar indicate a strong thunderstorm is producing dangerously large hail or high winds, capable of causing significant damage. In the United States, it does not account for lightning or flooding...

s, tornado warning

Tornado warning

A tornado warning is an alert issued by government weather services to warn that severe thunderstorms with tornadoes may be imminent. It can be issued after a tornado or funnel cloud has been spotted by eye, or more commonly if there are radar indications of tornado formation...

s, and other weather warnings/bulletins, in addition to the LSR.

The Storm Prediction Center

Storm Prediction Center

The Storm Prediction Center , located in Norman, Oklahoma, is tasked with forecasting the risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the contiguous United States. The agency issues convective outlooks, mesoscale discussions, and watches as a part of this process...

, working with the NWS, collects the reports for its own database, and also works with the National Climatic Data Center

National Climatic Data Center

The United States National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina is the world's largest active archive of weather data. The center became established in late 1951, with the move into the new facility occurring in early 1952....

, which eventually stores the reports in the official record, Storm Data.

Example

The following is an example of a local storm report.

NWUS53 KGID 172339

LSRGID



PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE

639 PM CDT THU JUN 17 2010



..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...

..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....

            ..REMARKS..



0636 PM     HAIL             2 SSW KIRWIN            39.64N 99.14W

06/17/2010  E0.75 INCH       PHILLIPS           KS   TRAINED SPOTTER



            DIME SIZE HAIL AT SCOUT RESERVATION

&&



$$