Severe Weather Spotter Training
3-9-2009, 6:30 PM
Musser Public Library
304 Iowa Ave., Muscatine, Iowa
Muscatine Amateur Radio Club to host SKYWARN severe
weather spotter training.
What is SKYWARN™?
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 280,000 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.
Who is Eligible?
NWS encourages anyone with an interest in public
service and access to communication, such as HAM radio,
to join the SKYWARN™ program. Volunteers include police
and fire personnel, dispatchers, EMS workers, public
utility workers and other concerned private citizens.
Individuals affiliated with hospitals, schools,
churches, nursing homes or who have a responsibility
for protecting others are also encouraged to become a
spotter.
How Can I Get Involved?
NWS has 122 local Weather Forecast Offices, each with a
Warning Coordination Meteorologist, who is responsible
for administering the SKYWARN™ program in their local
area. Training is conducted at these local offices and
covers:
* Basics of thunderstorm development
* Fundamentals of storm structure
* Identifying potential severe weather features
* Information to report
* How to report information
* Basic severe weather safety
Classes are free and typically are about two hours
long. In Muscatine, the Muscatine Amateur Radio Club
will host SKYWARN severe weather spotter training on
Monday, March 9, 2009 at 6:30pm in the Upper Level
Meeting Room of the Musser Public Library, 304 Iowa
Avenue in Muscatine.
For more information about the Muscatine Amateur Radio
Club, visit
http://www.muscatinehams.org
