skywarn / storm spotter class

[TonyV225]

Tomorrow night my wife my son and myself are doing a storm spotter classs my my daughter thats also licensed cant go she will be in drivers E.D. school at the same time and in the same town which sucks but she can always do a class later Ill even sit with her through it.

How long are these courses they say 2 or so hours from what Ive heard but Im not sure exactly what we will do there any advice??? Any hints tips or help would be appreciated. Im sure all will be fine for the most part the reason for this is the county next to mine contacted me Friday and asked if Ide be interested in running a storm group for my county they had a meeting about it and its tough because half there group was splitting off to my county to watch and they were running off their countys repeater and my counties so they need a group started here.

I said I didnt have the training and within a few minutes they said you will now and found a class 1/2 hour from my house and like I said my daughter has driver school at the same time so that was kind of funny. ironically there were 3 Tornadoes in my county that same night just a few hours later and there were 2 confirmed lastnight about an hour or so from me so I guess its time for my family to help out where we can now. I just dont know what to expect out of all this thats why I am asking what Im about to step into here. . Thanks....Tony

 

[Carl]

i went to one a few years ago, i rember it lasting around an hour and a half. its a meterologist and a slide show. they talk about how to identify anvil (thunderstorm) clowds and how tornados form. i believe they said they only from when winds are north south and not east and west. they breefly touched up on flooding and blizzards.

honestly it was a waist of time, the nws was supposed to issue everyone a number to use when they called in but they never did. long story short about about a year they fiannally told me there are much more important things to worry about than little things like that.

i never attended another class nor will i ever attend another. basically if you see somthing happen you can grab the cell and call the nws. you could use a 2 meter if you have a network setup but someone still has to call in the end.

you and i are to far north for anything to really happen, we might get a blizzard but thats about it.

 

[kd-5-bgt]

I go to spotters classes every year,personally I do enjoy going to them and usually learn something new every year,the class is about 2 hours long...what they will cover will usually depend on your area,they do tornados of course,flooding ,and any other weather related items that relate to your area...

For me personally it was time well spent since I do help a local skywarn group in my area during sevier weather....I do live on the eastern side of tornado ally so we do see our fair share of rough weather

 

[kc9owm]

Here in Indy, we don't have that many bad funnel clouds that touch down though it does happen. the southern end of indiana around the river has been hit several times in the last decade or so and flooding like what in going on in tenn. can be a problem for those folks I go to the classes every year, but to be truthful I do it more for the fellowship with old friends than for the class. LOL
mike

 

[TonyV225]

I understand what you both are saying and figured some of this is bogus but our storm groups here state you have to go through a storm class to be apart or participate in helping out I also think it would be good for the kids to actuallyu know or understand this aswell so 1 class wont hurt.

Thanks for the input fellas you have been a great help........Tony

 

[Robb]

I understand what you both are saying and figured some of this is bogus but our storm groups here state you have to go through a storm class to be apart or participate in helping out I also think it would be good for the kids to actually know or understand this as well so 1 class wont hurt.

Thanks for the input fellas you have been a great help........Tony

I'm about to head out to Iowa in the next week or so, as the middle of May to the first weeks of June is the severe weather window in the northern Plains.

One cannot count on the SKYWARN training to do the job of spotting adequately. But this isn't always the case either; some parts of the country have some outstanding teachers that can give gazillions of bits of useful and coherent eduactional tips. You may well need to learn as much as you can on your own to supplement if this is not the case. The internet has some great sites to answer the remaining questions you might have. I would just Google any term or principle, as this worked for me. Read and search on STORMTRACK.org; this is an xlnt site to learn from and gather info.

 

[kd-5-bgt]

It is well worth the time to take the class if you are planning to help with the Skywarn group....that way you will know how to report what you are seeing...there are some base limits that you need to know...wind speed,hail size..... plus there is always the chance to put a face with the call sign .

The National Weather Service likes to get out there and talk with the Skywarn people so everyone is on the same page...and safty is really stressed

I know I really enjoyed the class,I live very close to where two different classes are held,one about 10 miles and the other about 25 miles from where I live..I try to make them both

 

[W5LZ]

If you are going to do any storm spotting then it's a very good idea to be familiar with what you are seeing, and not seeing, and being able to describe either of those things. It really isn't as simple as it may seem. You will not come out of those classes being a meteorological expert, or a TV weather 'person'. You will have a better idea of what's happening and why, most of the time.
In Oklahoma there are several 'levels' of weather classes. The one's usually open to the public (free) are the 'bare-bones' of it. It does exactly what it's intended to do, helps people who call in information to describe what they saw. There are a couple of 'levels' above that one. They are by invitation, or at least obtainable through recognized organizations which have some use of them. They typically last for more than one day (a week-end maybe), and require that 'public' class as a starting point. Since those classes are not usually given locally, it means an effort/cost to attend them. Some of the instructors in those classes are -very- knowledgeable about all this storm spotting stuff, and are well worth listening to.
The state weather service has some sites on the internet that are very active and informative. They include weather radar. You have to be 'approved' to access those sites, meaning you are given instructions on how to 'read' that radar, and be sponsored by an organization that has the need of this type of information. It get's envolved, ain't for just everybody.
Enough of all that. It's worthwhile if done correctly. A real mess if it isn't. Not having any great desire to get rained/hailed/sleeted on, I tend not to do a lot of that particular aspect of storm spotting. I am interested in the communications aspect, and do participate in that part (locally). If you think it's interesting, any part of it, then do what's required and enjoy it! If you aren't willing to put some effort into it, I'd say you might benefit from not participating. Up to you.
- 'Doc