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Spotters ready for severe weather
Nearly 100 people gathered in the 3M Clubhouse on Thursday, Feb. 19, to attend a weather spotter training course conducted by the National Weather Service.
The event was hosted by the Vernon County Emergency Management Agency. The purpose of the yearly training session is so spotters can "learn more about what to be out there looking for," said Dennis Kimrey, director of the Vernon County Emergency Management Agency.
The Springfield office of the National Weather Service has been putting on this training session here since 1995. Steve Runnels, a warning coordination meteorologist for the NWS, has been has been conducting the training classes since 1988 and does about 40 sessions a year. Runnels said the work of the spotters not only confirms to the meteorologist that there is severe weather developing but that, "it confirms the presence of a storm to people who need to take cover. It does save lives."
In an average year, there are 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods and more than 900 tornadoes across the United States. Through the "Skywarn" program of the National Weather Service, "nearly 290,000 trained severe weather spotters," across the country form "the Nations first line of defense against severe weather," according to the National Weather Service "Skywarn" Web site.
The focus of the training this year is on spotter safety. The first half of the training pointed out how spotters should act and react in order to prevent getting caught in a dangerous storm. The emphasis on safety training comes in response to an incident in Newton County, Mo., in which a spotter was killed.
A large part of the crowd attending the training were members of the volunteer fire departments of Vernon County. According to Kimrey, there are 30 to 50 volunteer firefighters throughout the county acting as spotters at any given time. The number fluctuates according to how each rural department is staffed. During his segment of the presentation, Kimrey thanked the spotters, especially the firefighters, saying "they are the backbone of our spotter network."
Several municipalities were represented as well as the Sheriff's department, and the Vernon County Ambulance District. There were several interested residents and a number of HAM radio operators in attendance. Kimrey said that this year's group was the largest they had ever had, and it would have been larger but city employees received their yearly training during an "in service" training session.
Along with the safety information presented, participants were instructed on thunder storm development and structure and how to identify the severe weather features of a storm.
They learned how to report the information accurately because, the goal of the NWS is "to protect life and property," and in order to do that "we need more and more accurate information at our disposal to make decisions," said Runnels.
There were some statistics given and some very good footage of different storms. Some of the material used in this course had not been used before and this group was the first to see it.
Nevertheless, Runnels did a good job of keeping the crowd involved and threw in a bit of humor to break up the two hour session.
Anyone can get involved in the spotter program, but it lends itself especially well to the emergency responders because they already have the communication capabilities needed to relay the all important information. HAM radio operators also have the communication equipment and skills needed to be effective spotters and some of the presentation was aimed at them. People who aren't trained spotters "shouldn't be out there looking," said Kimrey.
If you're interested in becoming part of the spotter program, you can visit their Web site at www.weather.gov/
skywarn. or contact Steve.Runnels@noaa.gov.
For local information, you can contact the Vernon County Emergency Management Agency at (417) 667-8236.
For information on impending severe weather go to www.spc.noaa.gov. to receive spotter reports.