A SKYWARN® Spotter training session will be held on Thursday April 3, 2014 from 7-10PM at the Petersham Center School located at 31 Spring Street in Petersham, MA.
SKYWARN® spotters are an important resource to the National Weather Service as they provide ground truth information in high impact weather events. These ground truth observations help aid in decisions in issuing watches, warnings and advisories. Not only will spotters learn how to observe the weather, they will also learn about valuable preparedness and safety tips. Trained spotters have been invaluable during weather events such as Post Tropical Storm Sandy, the February Blizzard of 2013, as well as during the Springfield Tornado. We are looking to attract as much interest as possible so we can expand our network and offer more extensive support to a greater area. Image below from www.obnoxiousbostonfan.com.
The effects of severe weather are felt every year by many Americans. To obtain critical weather information, NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, established SKYWARN® with partner organizations. SKYWARN® is a volunteer program with nearly 290,000 trained severe weather spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service.
Although SKYWARN® spotters provide essential information for all types of weather hazards, the main responsibility of a SKYWARN® spotter is to identify and describe severe local storms. In the average year, 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods and more than 1,000 tornadoes occur across the United States. These events threatened lives and property.
Since the program started in the 1970s, the information provided by SKYWARN® spotters, coupled with Doppler radar technology, improved satellite and other data, has enabled NWS to issue more timely and accurate warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash floods.
SKYWARN® storm spotters are part of the ranks of citizens who form the Nation’s first line of defense against severe weather. There can be no finer reward than to know that their efforts have given communities the precious gift of time–seconds and minutes that can help save lives. For more information visit www.skywarn.org.
