Home News McLean County Annual Basic Weather Spotter Training on April 4
Annual Basic Weather Spotter Training on April 4
Sunday, 16 January 2011 09:47

National Weather Service LogoThe McLean County EMA will host its annual basic weather spotter training on Monday, April 4 at 6:30 pm. The training will take place at the McLean County EMA offices in the Law and Justice Center in Bloomington. Staff from the National Weather Service office in Lincoln, Illinois will be conducting the training. Anyone with an interest is welcome to attend the spotter class. There is no cost for this training - just 2 to 3 hours of your time for the class. The spotter training class is designed for people new to severe storm spotting, as well as those that need refresher training. We recommend that all spotters attend this class annually.

Severe storm spotters are a VITAL part of the warning process! Spotters provide critical, potentially live saving information to their communities and surrounding locations - and to NWS forecasters who are using the reports to help issue warnings and keep the public updated during severe weather events.

The NWS in Lincoln, IL provides spotter training classes to emergency management agencies and SKYWARN spotter groups in 35 counties across central and eastern Illinois. Topics covered in the spotter training class include:
  • Thunderstorm development and features
  • Types of Thunderstorms - especially those that impact Illinois
  • Types of Tornadoes and the tornado life cycle
  • Non-tornadic severe weather
  • Spotter challenges
  • Spotter safety
  • Effective Spotter reports

Please contact the McLean County EMA offices directly at (309) 888-5020 during normal business hours if you have questions or need additional information.