Free training can make you a weather spotter

Those in Yuma who like to pay attention to the weather can learn how to become a spotter for the NWS (National Weather Service) in a free training class.

The class will be held on Thursday, May 4 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Yuma County Public Health Auditorium, 2200 W. 28th Street (West Main Entrance).

Thursday’s training class will teach attendees how to properly identify and report significant weather phenomena and contribute to public safety.

According to Austin Jamison, meteorologist with the NWS in Phoenix, even with technology such as radar and satellites, the service still is in need of ground truth information from trained weather spotters throughout the year.

Anyone can become an adult volunteer, and the NWS encourages those that like to pay attention to the weather to become involved, he noted.

Some of the primary hazards weather spotters provide within the Desert Southwest are wind damage, flooding and bad visibility due to blowing dust, he said.

“We even teach people about tornadoes even though they are very rare here,” Jamison noted.

Spotters also serve to let the NWS know the extent of the damage due to adverse weather.

“Sometimes they will let us know if a storm is worse than anticipated and we will change a weather advisory and issue a warning, which is more severe,” Jamison said. “Spotters help us with the warning process and they also help us in our after-the-fact report when documenting what happened. They help us with our primary job at the NWS — protection of lives and property.”

Additionally, those who attend the class will learn about how thunderstorms work, how to estimate wind speeds, and how a spotter’s reports tie in to warnings and advisories issued by the NWS.

Within the state of Arizona, the NWS Phoenix Office forecasts for Yuma, Maricopa, La Paz, southern Gila and northwest Pinal counties. During the class, participants will also be learning about all the services available from the NWS.

Following the presentation, completion certificates will be issued and program participation will be confirmed.

Registration is required and can be completed by visiting https://goo.gl/forms/ Natuu8YeZUOcfpgF2

For questions, call Jamison or Ken Waters at the NWS Phoenix Office at (602) 275-0073 (option 5), or visit weather.gov/phoenix and click on the link for “Skywarn” on the left hand side of the homepage.