There are two SKYWARN® training opportunities in the Fargo/Moorhead area in March 2017:
These free classes, presented by the National Weather Service, will train First Responders, Amateur Radio Operators, and members of the public as SKYWARN® weather spotters. They are also an opportunity for current spotters to refresh their skills.
Participants will learn about:
- Basics of thunderstorm development
- Fundamentals of storm structure
- Identifying potential severe weather features
- Information to report
- How to report information
- Basic severe weather safety
No registration is required and seating may be limited. These classes are open to the public.
Please visit the NWS WFO Grand Forks, ND page to find other regional training opportunities.
About 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 290,000 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. [ 1 ]
Please visit the Frequently Asked Questions About SKYWARN® section of the NWS WFO Grand Forks, ND page for more information about SKYWARN®.
SKYWARN® is a registered trademark of NOAA’s National Weather Service. Rules for the usage of the SKYWARN® name and logo are available on-line.
Footnotes
[ 1 ] “What is SKYWARN®?”, National Weather Service , retrieved February 7 2017, http://www.nws.noaa.gov/skywarn/.
