Skywarn Spotter Training

The Emergency Services Division of the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac, is offering Skywarn Spotter training free of charge to anyone 18 years of age or older who is interested in being trained in severe weather identification, protection, and reporting procedures. The course is approximately 1-1/2 hours long, and identification codes are issued to all who complete the program.

The course is being offered Thursday, March 12, 2015 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Ypsilanti Township Civic Center at 7200 South Huron River Drive (East off of Huron Street south of I-94) in Ypsilanti, and Saturday, April 11, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Pioneer High School, 601 West Stadium Blvd. in Ann Arbor.

Registration for both courses begins 30 minutes before posted start time. Class sizes are limited so you must pre-register electronically on the web HERE. For more information please call (734) 973-4900.

Skywarn storm spotters are part of the ranks of citizens who form the Nation’s first line of defense against severe weather. This is your chance to give the seconds and minutes that could help save lives in Manchester and beyond during severe weather emergencies.

Although Skywarn spotters provide essential information for all types of weather hazards, the main responsibility of a Skywarn spotter is to identify and describe severe local storms. In the average year, 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods and more than 1,000 tornadoes occur across the United States. These events threatened lives and property.

To obtain critical weather information, NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, established Skyward with partner organizations. Skyward is a volunteer program with nearly 290,000 trained severe weather spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service.

by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and a founder of the Manchester Mirror.