Volunteers trained to spot and confirm severe weather have been keeping their eyes posted on the Dufferin skyline for the past 10 years to warn and help protect area residents from extreme weather conditions.

The program is called CANandian Weather Amateur Radio Network (CANWARN) Dufferin. It is a completely volunteer-based organization of ham radio operators who report severe weather to Environment Canada.

Their role is to confirm what satellites and radars see in the atmosphere, which is known as ground-truthing.

Once Environment Canada issues a severe weather watch, CANWARN volunteers in the affected region are alerted and asked to report any signs, such as lightning, hail, cumulonimbus and funnel clouds.

Once a volunteer spots severe weather they report the information the the CANWARN network controller of the region who then gives that information to Environment Canada. The meteorologist then combines that information with the satellite and radar reports and refine the forecast and prepare a severe weather watch.

There are a number of these stations throughout the province.

"We felt one was required in Dufferin because it's in a tornado ally and would benefit the community," said Paul Chantree, the emergency co-ordinator for CANWARN Dufferin.

He recalls the tornado that swept through Grand Valley, Amaranth and Mono in 1985 when volunteers were providing emergency communication for a week. Mr. Chantree said it's mostly known as the Barrie tornado, even though it killed people in Grand Valley.

For years, the volunteers worked out of the Dufferin Oaks facility, but now thanks to technology, they can operate out of their own homes using their own equipment.

Mr. Chantree noted the volunteers can help with more than just the weather. For instance, in the massive blackout of 2003 these volunteers provided county officials with everything they needed to communicate with and helped Headwaters Health Care Centre with communication needs and back-up power as well.

"We not only deal with weather emergencies, we deal with the emergencies that come along with respect to the loss of general communication because we're able to operate under our own power," said Mr. Chantree. "We don't need commercial power to provide emergency communication."

He said their role is to strictly handle communication in a crisis situation for emergency services such as the police, fire fighters and paramedics.

Due to the county's high elevation, Mr. Chantree said, it's prone to severe weather, including tornados and white-out conditions in the winter.

He said the goal of CANWARN Dufferin is to protect the lives and property of the community.

To become a volunteer with the program you first need to obtain a amateur radio operator licence, then you take a training course from Environment Canada.

These courses are usually offered once a year in the regions with a CANWARN station from March until May.

The course takes about three hours.

For more information call Mr. Chantree at 519-925- 5010.