The Newsletter of the Buffalo Forecast Office

Page 6

SKYWARNTM Spotter Training Sessions -- Spring 2008

SKYWARNTM is a National Weather Ser-

The remaining scheduled SKYWARNTM training sessions

vice effort to save lives during severe

weather emergencies with an expanding

for the Spring of 2008 are:

network of trained volunteer weather spot-

ters. SKYWARN spotters support their lo-

April 5th - Oswego, Oswego County

·  SUNY Oswego, Piez Hall, Room 320. Training begins

cal community and government by provid-

ing reports of severe weather directly to the

at 10:00AM

National  Weather  Service  in  Buffalo

April 8th - Lowville, Lewis County

through amateur radio or the NWS spotter

·  Lewis County Search and Rescue Building, 7782

toll-free hotline. The services performed by SKYWARNTM

West State Street. Training begins at 6:30PM

spotters have saved many lives.

April 10th - Mayville, Chautauqua County

·  Hartfield Volunteer Fire Department, Elmwood Road.

The National Weather Service has a number of devices for

Training begins at 7:00PM

detecting severe thunderstorms. Included in these are

April 21st - Town of Tonawanda, Erie County

Doppler radar, satellite, and lightning detection networks.

·  Buffalo Amateur Radio Repeater Association Meeting;

However, the most important tool for observing thunder-

St. Bartholomew's Church, Corner of Brighton and

storms is the trained eye of the storm spotter. By providing

Fries Roads. Meeting begins at 7:30PM

observations, SKYWARNTM spotters assist the National

April 24th - Rochester, Monroe County

Weather Service staff in their warning decisions and en-

·  Monroe County ARES Meeting; Greater Rochester

able the National Weather Service to fulfill its mission of

Chapter of the American Red Cross, 50 Prince Street.

protecting life and property. Storm spotters are, and al-

Meeting begins at 7:00PM

ways will be, an indispensable part of the severe local

May 6th - Lancaster, Erie County

warning program.

·  Office of Emergency Management Building, 725 Pave-

ment Road. Training begins at 7:00PM

The training sessions review basic topics including the

May 8th - Cheektowaga, Erie County

roles and responsibilities of the National Weather Service,

·  Erie CERT; Fire Training Academy, 3359 Broadway

severe weather safety, and basic severe weather meteor-

Ave. Cheektowaga. Training begins at 7:00PM

ology including how thunderstorms, severe thunderstorms

June 3rd - Rochester, Monroe County

and tornadoes form. The session will also include discus-

·  Hamfest - Rochester (**Paid admission to the Hamfest

sion on storm reporting techniques and tips for staying in

required)

tune with the current and forecast weather.

For those who have already attended a training session,

If you know of any group (emergency responders, law en-

we recommend you attend another spotter training ses-

forcement, civic organizations, or amateur radio groups,

sion at least once every three years to remain on our spot-

for example) that would like SKYWARNTM training or re-

ter list.

fresher training, please contact us.

Anyone can become a severe weather spotter for the Na-

Judith Levan

tional Weather Service. SKYWARNTM training is free and

Warning Coordination Meteorologist

open to the public and lasts about two hours.

Judith.Levan@noaa.gov

National Weather Service Forecast Office

NOAA's

587 Aero Drive

Cheektowaga, NY 14225

National

Weather Service

Phone: 716-565-0204

Fax: 716-565-9002

EDITORS NOTE:

Published quarterly, each of issue of "The Lake Breeze" contain articles about our operations, products and services, and interesting

weather submitted by various members of our staff and NOAA Headquarters. If you have a comment about our programs, or an idea

for something you'd like to see included in an upcoming issue, we'd like to hear from you. You can email me at judith.levan@noaa.gov.

Judith Levan

Warning Coordination Meteorologist