Two courses will be taught in July to train people to become storm spotters, which are a crucial part to severe storm readiness.
“This program is not for storm chasers,” EMA director Steve Price said Tuesday at the Wayne County Commissioners meeting.
The two courses involve “on-the-ground” observations of actual measurements, which are important for relaying information to the National Weather Service (NWS) station in Binghamton, N.Y.
One of the SKYWARN courses offered is for flood spotters. There is no pre-requisite for this course. The course will educate future spotters on flood terminology, causes of flooding, differences between floods and flash floods and procedures for reporting flooding.
The other course is for advanced SKYWARN spotters, preferably those who have taken the basic SKYWARN course in the past three years or those who have a background in meteorology.
This course will review radar meteorology, and concepts like CAPE, lifted index, and how wind shear affects thunderstorm and tornado development, among other things.
The advanced course involves reporting to the NWS on severe weather topics, such as thunderstorms, tornados, hail and lightening.
Storm and flood spotters act on a volunteer basis and are not a part of any government organization.
The program not only helps emergency management with storm preparedness, but also saves residents who live in flood areas money on their flood insurance.
“This a financial benefit for residents who live in these areas, at no cost to EMA or the County,” Commissioner Wendell Kay said.
The first SKYWARN course is the advanced spotter course. It will take place on July 8, at 7 p.m.. The flood SKYWARN course will be given on July 20. Both courses will be taught at The Park Street Complex located at 648 Park Street.
Call the Wayne County Emergency Management Agency at (570) 253-1622 to register.
The program is provided through the National Weather Service and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
