Severe Weather, Storm Spotter training April 30
In Pinedale and Marbleton
by National Weather Service
April 25, 2008
Officials at NOAA’s National Weather Service forecast office in Riverton and Sublette County Emergency Management are looking for help in protecting the county’s 7,000 residents from severe weather.
Meteorologists from the Riverton forecast office will hold a two-hour Severe Weather Spotter Training class in both Pinedale and Marbleton on Wednesday, April 30. One class will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the Pinedale Library with a second class to be held at the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office in Marbleton beginning at 6:00 p.m. The classes are free of charge and open to all area residents interested in weather, thunderstorms, or public safety. All course materials are provided and completion cards will be given to all volunteers.
The multimedia training session will provide volunteers with information on important thunderstorm characteristics, types of severe weather, weather safety, and reporting procedures.
Organized in a partnership between National Weather Service Offices and local county emergency management agencies, volunteer weather spotters play an important role in the severe weather warning process, according to Chris Jones, warning coordination meteorologist at the Riverton office.
“A trained spotter provides our forecasters with a valuable set of eyes in the field,” Jones said. “Real-time reports from trained spotters have assisted us in issuing timely weather warnings on many occasions. Volunteer spotters are especially helpful in providing eye-witness accounts of what is happening on the ground. They can provide us with information about cloud formations and movement, help us accurately pin-point weather hazards, and help us provide notice of where storm damage is occurring. Spotters can be especially helpful in the wide open areas of our western states.”
More than 750 trained spotters assist forecasters at the Riverton office by being those eyes on the ground across 11western Wyoming counties. Jones encouraged current spotters to attend the training as a refresher course.
Additional information on storm spotting is available on the local National Weather Service website at http://www.weather.gov/riverton or by calling the Riverton office at (800) 211-1448.
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