When severe weather threatens our area, the National Weather Service relies on the work of trained SkyWarn Spotters, who provide accurate storm information to meteorologists. This information allows them to issue more immediate and accurate tornado, severe thunderstorm and flood warnings.
There are close to 300,000 SkyWarn Spotters, but local forecasters need more in our area. There are two upcoming training sessions. One in Virginia Beach and another in Currituck, NC. According to skywarn.org, folks who attend will learn everything they need to become a trained weather spotter, including:
- Basics of thunderstorm development
- Fundamentals of storm structure
- Identifying potential severe weather features
- Information to report
- How to report information
- Basic severe weather safety
The first training session is Tuesday, May 1 at the Virginia Beach Fire Training Center located at 927 S Birdneck Rd. To register, contact Cookie Ketcham at 757-385-2914 or email sketcham@vbgov.com.
The second session is on Tuesday, May 15 at the Historic Currituck Courthouse, Commissioners’ Room located at 153 Courthouse Road. To Register, Contact Mary Newns at Mary.Newns@currituckcountync.gov.
Patrick Rockey
NewsChannel 3 Chief Meteorologist
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