Health Department and Weather Service set weather spotter training

Area residents who would like to help their community in any kind of extreme weather event will have the chance to participate in a weather spotter training class next week.

National Weather Service Great Falls will be holding Weather Spotter Training Wednesday, May 9, at 6 p.m. at Hill County Health Department.

“A Weather-Ready Nation: Society is prepared for and responds to weather-dependent events,” is the Weather Service vision as stated on their official website.

A weather spotter is a person who observes the weather for the purpose of reporting it to a larger group of people or an organization.

“Real-time reporters are critical in issuing warnings and saving lives. … Spotters provide the real-time ground-trough of local conditions-such as hail size, wind speed, tornado development, and local damage — to help warn the public,” Hill County Health Department Lead Public Health Nurse Bridget Kallenberger said.

Most communities have weather spotters; often some of these spotters are fire and police personnel because of their access to radio communications and 24-hour operations.

Spotters also include many volunteer citizens, some who have an interest in weather or are amateur radio operators. Many, though, are just private citizens who want to help out their community in the case of severe weather.

This training is sponsored by the Weather Service and is free with no registration required. The training classes usually last about two hours and include information on identifying storm features, effective positioning strategy, safety and severe weather communication.

Anyone who is interested in weather and wants to help build a weather-ready county to help their community are invited to join. Spotters do not need any special tools or equipment besides an effective and reliable form of communication.

The training will be held in the meeting room at the back of the Hill County Health Department, alley access.