Spotters Keep Eyes on Darkened Skies

By Katie DePaola

Friday, February 8, 2008

When severe weather threatens Loudoun County, the latest radar and satellite technology comes in handy.

Now, so will about 50 additional "storm spotters."

Weather buffs, 911 dispatchers, community volunteers, and fire and rescue officials gathered in Leesburg this week to learn how to spot severe weather. Howard Silverman, senior forecaster for the Baltimore-Washington office of the National Weather Service in Sterling, came to the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Training Center with one mission: to bring more "storm spotters" into the fold.

"You are the most valuable resource in the severe weather warning process," Silverman said during the Skywarn Basics I training course.

Chris Strong, a weather service coordination meteorologist, said people who attend the classes are typically interested in weather, amateur radio or public service.

"It's certainly people who have an interest in weather, but people who are looking to help their communities, as well," he said.

For the weather service, the goal is to educate the public while also building a network of "weather spies" who will share information about weather patterns in their area, Strong said.

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Skywarn Basics I Class in Leesburg

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The class covered everything from floods and tornadoes to hurricanes and lightning. This photo shows Howard Silverman as he explains lightning climatology to the class. (Katie DePaola)

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Course coordinator Robert Hilter, of the Loudoun Office of Emergency Management, makes sure that participants sign in. (Katie DePaola)

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"You are the most valuable resource in the severe weather warning process," senior forecaster Howard Silverman said. (Katie DePaola)

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The Skywarn Basics I class was held at the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Training Center in Leesburg. (Katie DePaola)

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More than 50 people participated in the Skywarn Basics I course on Monday night. (Katie DePaola)

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Howard Silverman teaches participants how to become "storm spotters" for the National Weather Service. (Katie DePaola)

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Participants learned about the importance of tuning in to NOAA's weather radio stations. (Katie DePaola)

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Participants were given informational pamphlets to help them become more educated "storm spotters." (Katie DePaola)

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Here, Howard Silverman explains how to calculate distance from a storm using thunder and lightning flashes. (Katie DePaola)

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Virginia Legowik, an amateur radio coordinator, educated the class on the role of amateur radio in storm-spotting. (Katie DePaola)

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"The purpose is to have eyes on the clouds to let us know of something we might not see on radar or satellite or the other observation systems that we have," he said.

Though most participants on this Monday night were from Loudoun, some traveled from as far as Frederick, Md., to take the class.

Robert Hiltner, of the Loudoun County Office of Emergency Management, organized the class but was attending for the first time. He said he hoped to learn how to recognize weather patterns and what to look for in cases of severe weather.

The class covered all of the above. Silverman's three-hour presentation instructed attendees on how to detect severe weather, report conditions to the weather service and respond to dangerous weather situations.

Class participants were given wallet-sized cards that listed the criteria for severe weather, along with the number to call in reports. Spotters are asked to call at the first sign of tornadoes, funnels, hail, heavy rain, flooding, high winds, ice and snow accumulation. Any damage tied to weather, such as a fallen tree after high winds, should also be reported.

Oftentimes, Silverman said, people don't report what they see because they assume someone else has already reported it.

"If everybody's assuming that someone's doing it, nobody's doing it," he said.

The class lasted until 10 p.m., but for participants like Francine Jones, the late evening was worth it.

Jones, a Leesburg resident, understands the danger of severe weather: She once was struck by lightning while in her car. She said she attended the class to learn how to alert people during emergencies – and because she's a member of Loudoun's Medical Reserve Corps, the Community Emergency Response Team and the Loudoun chapter of the American Red Cross.

"There's a difference between doing something because you have to and because you want to," she said. "Volunteering gives you a good feeling."

After completing the Basics I class, the volunteer storm spotters are given a spotter ID, entered into the weather service database and contacted if forecasters need information about a particular location.

The weather service usually holds two or three classes in Loudoun each year. Basics I is the prerequisite course for others, including Basics II, flooding (scheduled for April 1) and tropical weather (scheduled for June 3).

Evan Foster, 15, of Ashburn, came to the class with his dad, Allan Foster, who got him interested in weather and public service. The two recently completed a Community Emergency Response Team class and were taking the Skywarn class as a follow-up.

"I thought it was good," Evan Foster said. "It had a lot of information, and we're going to do the next class."

For more information on the Skywarn training classes, visit the weather service Web site here. To report weather conditions, contact the forecast office at 703-260-0107 or lwx-report@noaa.gov.

Tagged: weather

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