We've already had some storms, and even a couple of tornado reports so far in 2012, so needless to say, it's time to start preparing for storm season. "Severe Weather Awareness Week" in Mississippi is from February 13-17th this year, and to kick things off, the NWS in Memphis is holding their first Storm Spotter training session of the year in Tupelo on Monday, February 13th. We'll have a complete listing of times/locations below.
The primary purpose of these "Storm Spotter" sessions is to inform the public on what to look for during strong storms, in-turn resulting in better storm reports.
Storm spotters, who are usually local emergency response officials from their respective counties, provide one of the highest levels of public service during severe weather events. Their reports allow TV meteorologists, emergency managers, and the National Weather Service to know how a storm has behaved, which in turn we can correlate into how the storm (should) continue to behave. Without the reports of local storm spotters, I'm just a guy, with a radar, and some cameras, making assumptions. Sure, there's more to it than that, but no one can put a price on the reports these guys/gals send in to us.
Out of respect for spotters everywhere, and the program the Weather Service puts on, I must say this: There's a difference between storm spotter and storm chaser. Storm spotters aren't the idiots you see chasing tornadoes from 10 feet away on cable TV, with no respect for their lives or anyone else's, just to get "The Shot." I know these images of "Storm Chasers" have made many of them larger-than-life, and some of the more popular personalities in the weather-world, but what most of these idiots do, is get too close, relish in the adrenaline rush, and pretend to care. Not all "storm chasers" fall into this category, but many do. If you have visions of chasing EF-5 tornadoes on the open plains, you'll need a bit more than what this class offers. My opinions about "storm chasers" could be whole catalog of blogs, so I'll leave it there for now.
The point is this: real storm spotters care about the people they are protecting, not about their national reputation. Real storm spotters save lives.... other than their own. Becoming one is a serious undertaking, and one that is a great public service.
Here's a list of training sessions over the next month. We'll have a meteorologist at all of these locations. In most cases it won't be me (because of that whole 6pm news thing):
February 13th - 6:30pm
North Mississippi Medical Training Auditorium
830 South Gloster Street
Tupelo, MS
(John, Jennifer, and Matt)
February 16th - 6:00pm
Fine Arts Auditorium
Itawamba Community College,
Fulton, Mississippi
(Dick)
February 21st - 6:00pm
Holiday Hall
Northeast Mississippi Community College
101 Cunningham Boulevard
Booneville, MS
(John)
February 28th - 6:00pm
Multipurpose Building
18025 Hwy 7
Coffeeville, MS
(John)
March 8th - 6:00 pm
Hackleburg First Baptist Church
315 First Avenue
Hackleburg, AL
(Jennifer)
