Aware – Alert – Available

Kanabec Area Skywarn was created to serve the public during severe weather. Our slogan above was introduced during a Mora Open Repeater Association Skywarn Net Training Session on March 17th 2016, and defines our commitment as follows:

Aware – Severe weather forecasts make us aware that severe weather could develop.
Alert – We are alert to forecast updates, and changing weather conditions.
Available – We make ourselves available when severe weather threatens.

Kanabec Area Skywarn History

A small group of Skywarn Spotters in Kanabec and Mille Lacs Counties began to form in 2007. In 2008 this group of Spotters were organized and named the Ogilvie Amateur Radio Skywarn Group [aka: OARS] as an affiliated extension service of the Mora Open Repeater Association. As time went on, the group grew and operations expanded into a three county service area in East Central Minnesota: Kanabec, Mille Lacs, and Pine.

Early in 2015, OARS was reorganized into three new autonomous Skywarn groups, identified as follows: The core group was renamed KANABEC COUNTY SKYWARN, and remained an operational affiliate of the Mora Open Repeater Association. It continued to provide primary coverage in Kanabec County, and supported operations in neighboring Mille Lacs and Pine Counties. The group reported to the Minneapolis [Chanhassen] and Duluth National Weather Service offices. Kanabec County Skywarn also served as the primary relay of Severe Weather Forecast information received from the National Weather Service to neighboring Skywarn groups and other interested parties across Eastern Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin. With the establishment of a new two meter repeater at Duxbury, in neighboring Pine County, Kanabec County Skywarn continued to provide limited coverage support for the new PINE COUNTY SKYWARN, and reported severe weather activity affecting that area to the Duluth office of the National Weather Service. A repeater link from Ogilvie to Duxbury was planned. The completion of a newly re-engineered and relocated two meter repeater at Foreston, in neighboring Mille Lacs County, resulted in the creation of the new MILLE LACS COUNTY SKYWARN.

With the release of its new “stand alone” website in August 2018, Kanabec County Skywarn improved its identity by renaming itself KANABEC AREA SKYWARN. This was done in order to more accurately describe its coverage area which extends beyond the borders of Kanabec County. The organization remained affiliated with the Mora Open Repeater Association, and its affiliation with the autonomous groups in Mille Lacs and Pine Counties remained unchanged. The new website was named kanabecskywarn.org and featured several major improvements over its old webpage inside MORA’s website.

For now, with spotter resources currently slim in all three counties, the three organizations will continue to work together by establishing liaison communications with each other during severe weather activity.