On April 3, 1974, an F-5 Tornado swept through Xenia, OH, as part of the 1974 Super Outbreak. This tornado caused significant damage throughout Xenia and the immediately surrounding areas and killed thirty-two (32) people.
After the community rebuilt, several amateur radio operators noticed a lack of trained weather spotters, an organized approach to reporting severe weather in the community, and a technical means to report severe weather in a timely manner to local authorities as well as the National Weather Service (NWS).
Shortly thereafter, Xenia Weather Amateur Radio Net (XWARN) was formed as a club primarily consisting of amateur radio operators who were cross trained by the National Weather Service as weather spotters. XWARN’s main purpose was, and still is, to provide information to the public and appropriate authorities in emergencies, including severe weather, using amateur radio as a tool. Secondarily, XWARN is an amateur radio club (now Ohio non-profit domestic corporation).
To better prepare ourselves to support real emergencies, XWARN, like many other amateur radio clubs, provides communications support to public events – marathons, 5K, etc – as resources permit. For both public events and actual emergency operations, XWARN maintains a communications trailer with a small work space.
XWARN maintains a Hall of Honor to recognize members who have gone above and beyond the call in supporting our these organizational goals.
Finally, we recognize Truman Boerkoel, K8JUG (SK). Truman was a founding member of XWARN and the man who first put XWARN on the internet back in 1998.
501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Status
As part of the process of becoming an Ohio domestic non-profit corporation, XWARN embarked on a process to update our Bylaws, which are now separated into a Code of Regulations and an administrative Operations Manual. IRS application materials for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status are available upon request.
