The spring severe storm season is approaching. Are you ready for whatever is in store? Do you have a severe weather plan at your home and your workplace? Can you recognize the clues that suggest large hail, flash flooding or a tornado is possible? Do you want to become part of the severe weather warning system in your county?
As part of its area-wide weather preparedness campaign, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Memphis will answer these and many other questions at the Skywarn storm spotter training program on March 31 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The program will be in Charleston at the Emergency Operations Center, 192 S. Panola St., and is held in partnership with the Tallahatchie County Emergency Management Agency.
The program will discuss thunderstorm formation, severe weather production and features associated with severe storms. The presentation will also review tornado formation and behavior, non-threatening clues which may be mistaken for significant features and spotter operations. The program will discuss recommended storm reporting procedures and safety when storms threaten. The two-hour presentation will be in multimedia format, featuring numerous pictures of storms and nearly 25 minutes of storm video clips.
The network of trained storm spotters plays an important role in Tallahatchie County.
“We could not do our job as well as we do without storm spotters,” said Gary Woodall, warning coordination meteorologist at the Memphis NWS office. “Real-time reports from storm spotters play a huge role in our warnings. Spotter reports were very important during the storms of December and January. Radar and satellite are great tools, but they only tell us part of a storm’s story. The combination of spotter reports and electronic data gives us the best possible picture of the storms and what’s going on inside them."
The program is free and open to the public.
“By coming to this program, you will learn a lot about thunderstorms,” Woodall said. “Even if you don’t become an active storm spotter, you will learn about how storms work and the visual clues to look for when storms are in your area. This will better prepare yourself and your family for the threats that storms pose."
The Tallahatchie County severe weather program is one of 15 that the Memphis NWS office will conduct from late February through early April.
The National Weather Service in Memphis provides forecasts, warnings and weather services for 55 counties across the Mid-South.
For more information on severe weather and the National Weather Service, visit the Memphis Forecast Office’s website at http://www.weather.gov/Memphis, their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NWSMemphis, and their Twitter feed at @NWSMemphis.
