Christine Wielgos of the National Weather Service-Paducah encourages everyone to get certified as a trained Skywarn weather spotter. Wielgos conducted a spotter training seminar on Friday at the Poplar Bluff Police Department headquarters.
NWS-Paducah, Kentucky, services Poplar Bluff and much of the surrounding region. Due to the location of Butler County, the radar in Paducah cannot always detect storms accurately.
The earth’s curvature creates a radar shadow where any weather below 6,000 feet cannot be seen. As a result, the NWS recruits a network of trained volunteers to get a better picture.
Cpl. Wade Dare of the Missouri State Park Rangers coordinated the event in conjunction with Poplar Bluff Severe Weather Response Team’s Director Craig Meador. Dare saw an important safety concern for the dozens of campers in state parks during severe weather events. Six rangers including Dare attended the training.
By certifying as weather spotters, park rangers can authoritatively determine weather conditions on site and take actions to safeguard visitors without having to wait for direction from another source.
Due to the frequent lack of cell service in parks’ wilderness areas, the need for trained weather spotters becomes more salient. Dare cited a July 4th tornado at Lake Wappapello where rangers had to notify boaters of the impending weather.
“Why not learn this to help safeguard our parks?” he said.
The community benefit of trained storm spotters goes beyond law enforcement according to Wielgos.
“Becoming a trained spotter is one of the best ways you can help your community by reporting storm information,” she affirmed.
According to weather.gov, the only prerequisites for becoming a spotter are that applicants must be at least 18 years old, able to visually observe the weather and have access to a phone.
If all conditions are met, prospective spotters must take a free course to learn proper procedures and reporting criteria. The training calendar is available on the weather.gov website.
“It’s very important that you treat weather with the respect it deserves,” Wielgos stated in Friday’s course.
Once certified, she encourages spotters to share their knowledge with others.
Wielgos added that having more spotters directly improves the NWS’ ability to keep residents safe. She predicts more severe weather events in the future from floods to tornadoes, and the need for trained volunteers will only increase.
Residents who want to get up-to-date and accurate weather information can find the latest NWS area forecast at weather.gov/pah thanks to the volunteer efforts of its spotters.