Storm spotter training class to be held in Washington

UPDATE: The National Weather Service has decided to cancel the following training due to the coronavirus outbreak.

WASHINGTON - A training class for anyone interested in becoming a storm spotter will take place at the Washington Public Library Thursday, March 19.

Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen said the course is open to anyone who is interested regardless if they live in Washington County or not. The course will take two hours and will be hosted by the National Weather Service.

The class will not give the participants any kind of certification, she said, but will allow for the weather service to keep contact information for trained spotters.

'They keep track of who comes to the class. If you want you can fill out a form and become an official spotter with the weather service and they will keep your contact information,” she said.

Once people are trained spotters, they can call into the weather service during a storm or disaster and report what they see. Reisen said there is a dedicated phone number for spotters to call which assists with reporting what is happening on the ground in a specific location.

'One of the first things that they will talk about in the class is what they can actually see from radar. There are all kinds of things that can interfere with making sure spotters on the ground can give them real-time information about what is happening that they cannot see on the radar. Sometimes when there is a tornado warning you will hear there are radar indicated tornado warnings and they'll show the radar indicated that with a color change and that means there's rotation that they can see but there's not necessarily rotation that has come down to the ground so spotters can help by reporting what they're seeing on radar or sharing what is not showing up on the radar,” she said.

Conditions ideal for the formation of tornadoes, how to spot different kinds of clouds and safety tips for spotters will be taught during the class, she said. Members of law enforcement and fire departments are also encouraged to attend to learn more about what to expect and what to look out for.

'When severe weather is imminent, dispatch will page out our local fire departments to be spotters so it will be a great refresher for everyone,” she said.