NWS announces new plans for SKYWARN storm spotter training

The northern Indiana office of the National Weather Service (NWS) today announced new plans for volunteer storm spotter training as part of the NWS SKYWARN program.

The NWS office plans seven regional, multi-county spotter training sessions in 2014 (see the region map below). An NWS meteorologist will lead each regional session in person, rather than remotely via teleconference. The session for the region that includes Allen County, Indiana is scheduled to take place at Columbia City High School, 600 N. Whitley St., Columbia City, Ind. That session is scheduled for Feb. 18, beginning at 7 p.m. EST. The NWS will not conduct SKYWARN training in Allen County, Indiana in 2014 — not even the remotely-presented training the NWS provided in 2013.

NWS map of training regions

Spotters and people interested in becoming spotters may attend any of the regional spotter training sessions listed on the NWS event calendar. It is not necessary to attend the session designated for your county. For example, residents of southern Allen County might prefer to attend the training that’s scheduled in Bluffton, Ind. Regardless of which session you plan to attend, NWS requests that you register in advance, using the appropriate link on the NWS event calendar. Registration is not required but the NWS encourages registration to help it assure that it has sufficient facilities, etc. for the number of people who attend.

For those unable to attend any of the regional spotter training sessions in 2014, the NWS plans multiple other training opportunities. For more information, please see an email message below from Michael Lewis, the warning coordination meteorologist at the northern Indiana NWS office. See also this PDF document that outlines the various training modalities that the NWS office has planned.

From: Michael.Lewis@noaa.gov [mailto:Michael.Lewis@noaa.gov]
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2013 12:10 PM
Subject: Spotter Training Continues!

The process of learning is a life-long journey and ceases never!

The National Weather Service will be hosting a series of spotter training programs beginning in February and continuing through March of 2014.

We will be using Social Media to engage the public (especially our spotters) YouTube to provide a series of spotter instructional videos, webinars at various times to answer spotter specific questions, and seven in-person training sessions throughout the area.

More details will be posted on the NWS Skywarn Page (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/iwx/?n=nwsnorthernindianaskywarnpage)

Registration for the live spotter training can be found on our Event Calendar http://www.crh.noaa.gov/iwx/program_areas/outreach/index.php

Additionally, there are several FREE MetEd Online courses that are beneficial to all spotters.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/iwx/?n=online_spotter_training

Keep on learning!

Michael Lewis
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
NWS Northern Indiana

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