By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
The National Weather Service will be hosting a SKYWARN Basic Spotter Training Thursday, March 1, at Hudsonville Hudsonville High School, 5037 32nd Ave., Hudsonville.
Each year, United States citizens cope with an average of 10,000 thunderstorms, 5,000 flood, 1,200 tornadoes, and two landfall hurricanes. Approximately 90 percent of all presidentially declared disasters are weather-related, causing around 500 deaths each year and nearly $14 million in damage.
In the 1960s, the National Weather Service developed a program to trained weather spotters who provide reports of severe and hazardous weather to help meteorologists make lifesaving warning decisions. Spotters are concerned citizens, amateur radio operators, truck drivers, mariners, airplane pilots, emergency management personnel, and public safety officials who volunteer their time and energy to report on hazardous weather impacting their community.
During the summer, SKYWARN weather spotters could report on such summer weather hazards as tornadoes, thunderstorms, lighting, flooding, heat, hurricanes, rip currents, wildfires and air quality drought. For more about the SKYWARN program, visit skywarn.org.
The March 1 training is from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. Those interested should register at https://skywarn2018.eventbrite.com. The training is free.
