Area Skywarn trainings set
The National Weather Service (NWS), with the help of local organizations, conducts SkyWarn classes each spring all over the nation, including one scheduled for this Friday, Feb. 8, in Breckenridge.
The course in Stephens County will be at the First Baptist Church’s Family Life Center at 301 South Rose Ave. Breckenridge, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. tomorrow evening and will be conducted by representatives of the Fort Worth branch of the National Weather Service.
The San Angelo office of the NWS has Skywarn classes scheduled in the area this spring including one in Abilene on Saturday, Feb. 23. The class will meet in Hart Auditorium in the Onstead-Packer building at Abilene Christian University from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and will be conducted by Warning and Coordination Meteorologist Hector Guerrero from the weather service.
There will also be a class at the Clyde Fire Department on Tuesday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m.
Classes are not held in smaller counties every year, and the NWS does not have a class in Albany listed on its 2019 calendar as of press time.
SkyWarn classes are open to the public and focus on storm type recognition and safety.
SkyWarn training sessions are free and no registration is required.
“The NWS works closely with their partners in amateur radio, fire, law enforcement, and those interested from the general public to confirm and report tornadoes, hail, damaging winds, flash floods and winter weather,” said Guerrero. “In Texas, severe thunderstorms can strike just about any month of the year. They are more frequent between March and June in West Central Texas.”
Guerrero explained that even with all the technological advances in severe storm detection, actual sighting and human input is still an important factor in the overall weather warning system.
First hand reports are combined with NWS data, such as information from Doppler radar, to inform communities through radio and television of the proper actions to take when severe weather threatens.
Those with questions can contact Shackelford County emergency management coordinator and sheriff Ed Miller at 325-762-2000 or call the NWS at 325-944-9445.
