NWS holding weather spotting class at Memorial High School
The National Weather Service is hoping to fill a need for accurate weather reports in the area. The United States National Weather Service Wilmington Ohio is putting on a Weather Spotting Class on Mon. Mar. 27 at 6 p.m., at St. Marys Memorial High School.
“We do these every spring, and we get in contact with the county Emergency Management Agency to arrange these,” said James Gibson, a Meteorologist with the service based out of Wilmington. Gibson said that when COVID hit, the service went to an all virtual format.
“During COVID we had up to 500 people signing up for the classes. Obviously once people do the virtual, they don’t want to do the in person,” said Gibson. He said that now they’re starting to see people return to the in person class.
In order to take part in the class, you don’t have to be a resident of Auglaize county as the class is open to the public.
“You don’t need to register, you just need to show up. They’re free and will always be presented by a meteorologist,” said Gibson. The class will run about two hours, and will include a slide show presentation that has videos included.
“They’re pretty entertaining, and worth the money since it’s free,” joked Gibson. Gibson said that the presentation is to highlight that they’re not asking people to chase weather, but to identify certain features and then report it to their office. “We have the capability to see what the radar sees, but we want people to verify the ground truth.”
Attendees will be given the number for their weather spotter line, which they can call if they see something.
“If you ever look at some of our warnings and they say ‘spotter identified’, that is someone who attend our class. It gives more credence when its a spotter and not just radar,” explained Gibson. Gibson said that having more spotters helps the National Weather Service to do its job better. He noted that the spotters not only spot weather, but also assist with post weather assessments as well.
“After events, we ask them to report damage, hail size, that kind of thing. We also talk about winter weather and that we’ll want you to report snow fall amounts, measure the snow,” said Gibson before continuing. “We also talk about heavy rain and flooding.”
“We want civic minded people to help us out. Its still science that is obviously hard to predict,” said Gibson. He said that one of their biggest assets are HAM radio operators.
“Whenever we issue a severe weather, or a tornado watch, we operate the HAM radio nets. If an operator sees something, they call it on the net, and it gets passed along to us,” said Gibson. He said if you see the SKYWARN logo, that is from the HAM radio operators. “We realize its a dying thing, especially since we have phones and cameras.”
In order to report weather, spotters as well as citizens can take to social media.
“Take a photo of what you see, post the location, and the direction you’re looking. You can post that to our Facebook page or Twitter,” explained Gibson. He said that during severe weather, they have up to ten people at the station during those times. “We’re constantly monitoring, we have individuals monitoring social media, and its easier to see.”
One thing Gibson said was that its very important that they have good relationships with the county Emergency Management Agencies.
“We don’t only rely on spotters to say ‘here is what I saw, or here is the damage’, but we’re going to talk to the EMA as well,” said Gibson then continued. “The EMA is going to drive around and look at damage. Its a very close working relationship with our EMA directors.”
Gibson said that he would encourage anyone interested in attending the class.
“All the guys who do the briefings are good, they’re good public speakers. Its pretty entertaining I think,” said Gibson. He said he believes that everyone has a basic fascination with the weather, and that there are also opportunities with the class. “You can ask questions afterward, so its a great opportunity, and you can actually talk to a meteorologist.”