The National Weather Service is providing Winter Weather Spotter Training to interested volunteers.
This class will cover all spotter-related topics concerning wintry precipitation to aid in forecaster weather reports.
The class is Monday, November 18 from 6 PM to 8:30 PM, and it is online. These ‘spotters’ will help forecasters discern proper snow depth among other things.
Christine Wielgos with the National Weather Service Paducah Office said reporting accurate snow-depth to the NWS isn’t as obvious as one might think.
“You may think about it as being simple as throwing a ruler in the ground, but it actually takes a little more finesse to actually take a correct measurement of snow and ice,” she said. “And so we go over all those little idiosyncrasies when it comes to measuring snowfall.”
During inclement weather, the NWS uses storm spotters to strengthen their severe storm warnings.
That can include watching for funnel clouds, wall clouds and reporting hail. Wielgos said this winter precipitation training complements spring and fall storm spotter training.
“As we all know, living in this part of the country, we can get tornadoes in the middle of the winter. But on occasion, we do get snow, we do get ice storms, and we get sleet and all of that,” she said. “And so this class is just kind of explaining the different types of precipitation and how to correctly identify what those are, how to report those.”
They also go over why it can be difficult to forecast snowfall and the different products that the National Weather Service issues for winter weather.
The NWS is also promoting a comprehensive Winter Preparedness Campaign. It covers everything from vehicle safety, to preventing frostbite, to preparing for a power outage.
“Winter is coming,” Wielgos said. “It will get colder. We will have bouts of snow, possibly bouts of ice that we need to contend with, and people need to be prepared for that.”
This information is also accessible online.
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