Weather spotter training class coming up

The Jackson County Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security is sponsoring National Weather Service SKYWARN training at 6 p.m. March 26 at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 504 N. Walnut St., Seymour.

The National Weather Service encourages anyone with an interest in public service to join the SKYWARN program. The training is free and typically lasts about two hours. No advance registration is necessary.

Volunteers include police and fire personnel, dispatchers, emergency medical services workers, public utility workers and other concerned citizens. Individuals affiliated with hospitals, schools, churches and nursing homes or who have a responsibility for protecting others are encouraged to become a spotter.

Attendees will learn the basics of thunderstorm development, fundamentals of storm structure, identifying potential severe weather features, information to report, how to report information and basic severe weather safety.

Since the program started in the 1970s, the information provided by SKYWARN spotters, coupled with Doppler radar technology, improved satellite and other data, has enabled the National Weather Service to issue more timely and accurate warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash floods, according to weather.gov/skywarn.

Although SKYWARN spotters provide essential information for all types of weather hazards, the focus is reporting on local severe thunderstorms. In an average year, the United States experiences more than 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods and more than 1,000 tornadoes, according to the website.

SKYWARN is a volunteer program with between 350,000 and 400,000 trained severe weather spotters.

Information: Email [email protected] or call 812-358-6110