While advanced technology plays a vital role in weather detection, it has limitations.
This is where dedicated volunteers, known as SKYWARN® storm spotters, step in. They provide invaluable ground-level observations to the National Weather Service. This crucial information ultimately helps improve the accuracy and timeliness of weather warnings, keeping communities safer.
And the best part? It's also a fun and rewarding way to give back to your community. Oh, and the training is free.
This volunteer program has 350,000 to 400,000 trained severe weather spotters, according to the National Weather Service. While SKYWARN® spotters play a crucial role in reporting various weather hazards, their primary focus is on severe local thunderstorms. This emphasis makes sense considering the high frequency of these events in the United States, with an average of over 10,000 occurring annually, compared to 5,000 floods and over 1,000 tornadoes.
The program began in the 1970s and helps the National Weather Service to issue more timely and accurate warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and flash floods.
Anyone with an interest in public service is welcome to join the program. Volunteers include police and fire personnel, dispatchers, EMS workers, public utility workers, concerned private citizens, those affiliated with hospitals, schools, churches and nursing homes or those responsible for protecting others.
The main focus of the program teaches:
- Basics of thunderstorm development
- Fundamentals of storm structure
- Identifying potential severe weather features
- Information to report
- How to report information
- Basic severe weather safety
"Although, NWS has access to data from Doppler radar, satellite, and surface weather stations, technology cannot detect every instance of hazardous weather. Spotters help fill in the gaps by reporting hail, wind damage, flooding, heavy snow, tornadoes and waterspouts. Radar is an excellent tool, but it is just that: one tool among many that NWS uses. We need spotters to report how storms and other hydrometeorological phenomena are impacting their area.
You can register for the two-hour class in any county, regardless of the one you reside in. Or you can register for an online class. SKYWARN certificates are good for 2 years. All classes are free and open to the public," – National Weather Service.
There are plenty of SKYWARN® classes across the Brazos River basin. Click here for a list of those opportunities.