Become a ‘storm chaser’ for the weather service

Thursday, March 19, 2009

By PATTY RICE GROTH
Inquirer Reporter
prgroth@galioninquirer.com

One will hear a network weather reporter say, “Our spotters in Crawford County say ... ” about severe weather. Who are those spotters? One of them could be “you.”

Becoming an official weather spotter for the National Weather Service is quite easy — attend a training session and pay attention.

The training makes one part of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s “Skywarn®” system — a network of trained weather spotters who report significant and severe weather to the NWS. For residents of Crawford County, that reporting would be made to the NWS office in Cleveland. NOAA/NWS is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

That office is responsible for 30 counties in north and northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania, separated into six districts. Scattered around that area are 15 NOAA radio stations, with the stations in Butler and Carey closest to residents in Crawford County, in district 3. Each of the districts broadcasts weather radio on its own frequency.

Spotters are critical to the success of NWS’ efforts to keep people safe from threatening weather. Weather radar technology still is not able to pick up nuances of weather conditions which are easily visible to the naked eye. Spotters provide confirmation of radar indicators, often improving the window of opportunity to issue weather warnings.

The region experiences about 300 warnings a year, affecting 4.5 million residents of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Other than the NWS training, there are no prerequisites to become a spotter. No special licenses and no special equipment are needed. It is up to the volunteer spotter to decide whether to become more heavily involved.

Some dedicated volunteers have rain gauges, available in a wide range of prices. Others have chosen to purchase an anonemeter — a wind meter, though the NWS training explains for to tell at least the minimum wind speed using trees at a meter.

Amateur radio operators — often called “ham operators” — are valuable spotter resources for NWS. Spotters may be attracted to becoming involved in supporting the NWS by becoming radio operators. Area amateur radio operators are organized in their efforts, even to the point of conducting drills. In fact, a tornado drill for area amateur radio operators is scheduled for March 25 at 9:50 a.m.

After completing the training, each volunteer is given an identity and the spotters’ access telephone number to NWS.

NWS instructor Gary Garnet, based in Cleveland, conducted the first-ever “Webinar” — a seminar conducted on the Internet — that includes the same information as is provided in a live seminar. The Crawford County Emergency Managent Agency hosted a Webinar site in their command center/conference room; six people took advantage of the opportunity to attend.

A live training session is scheduled on Thursday, April 6, starting at 6:30 p.m. at William Crawford Intermediate School.

Another Webinar training session is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, starting at 2 p.m. in the EMA office.

Registrations for the training sessions are limited; advance registration is strongly recommended. Interested persons should call the Crawford County EMA office to register for the April 14 Webinar. Registration for the live training on April 6 can also be made through the EMA office at 1-419-562-6009, or can be done online at http://www.erh.noaa.gov/ cle/skywarn/training/spottran.html. At that same Web site, one will find upcoming live and Webinar training sessions scheduled in surrounding counties as well.

It is not necessary to go to a group Webinar site. One can choose to reserve a spot in class and log in from a home or office computer.