Jonesboro, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – It was a packed crowd Saturday morning at Valley View Church of Christ as the National Weather Service (NWS) Memphis provided a free storm spotter safety session.
The event aimed to teach attendees the basics of storm spotting, which are used to provide the NWS with on-the-ground coverage of weather movements. It was a collaborative effort with the NWS Memphis and the Craighead County, Mississippi County, Poinsett County, and Arkansas State University offices of emergency management.
“We need ground truth for real-time observations as to what’s occurring with a storm. It helps us with the warning process,” NWS Memphis warning coordination meteorologist Todd Beal, who led the session, told attendees. “Take a severe thunderstorm warning, for example. Our base [criteria for issuing a] severe thunderstorm warning is 60 mph wind and one inch hail. But if we have someone on the ground telling us, ‘Oh no, you’ve got golf-ball-sized hail,’ we can change our message. We can change our warning.”
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During the session, Beal provided those in attendance, who were from Craighead, Mississippi, and Poinsett counties, with the basics of spotting storms, including cloud formations to watch for. He also provided explanations of how NWS radar works, storm safety, and the basics of weather terminology.
Each spring and fall, NWS Memphis conducts in-person and virtual storm spotter training sessions across its 55-county coverage area. Saturday’s class is one of four in-person classes scheduled for the spring session, with the others held in Missouri, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
Saturday’s session had been rescheduled from its original date of Saturday, March 7, due to the possibility of severe weather that weekend in NWS Memphis’s coverage area.
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Safety when reporting severe weather to the NWS was emphasized several times during the nearly two-hour session. Beal, as well as Craighead County Emergency Management coordinator Anthony Coy, told participants that Saturday’s session made them storm spotters, not storm chasers.
“You can be a very, very effective storm spotter standing on your front porch. No spotting is worth putting your life in danger,” Coy said.
When spotting storms, officials hosting the session said spotters should be in a location that provides both good observation abilities and several quick escape options. Storm spotting at night should be avoided.
Beal said there are certain things NWS Memphis is looking for when spotters report information, such as a funnel cloud or significant flooding. For wind damage, Beal said to report things such as downed power lines or uprooted trees, and to avoid using vague terms like “heavy” or “strong” winds.
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When reporting hail, Beal emphasized that the largest-sized hail should be reported, but only to go outside once it was safe to do so. When reporting anything, he said photos, as well as a general area in which the damage/weather pattern was spotted, help.
“We don’t need your exact address. Just some sort of reference to where your geographic area is, latitude and longitude, it works well if you have that,” he said. “Include the time that it occurred, what it is, and a picture, if possible.”
Beal told attendees that when making a report, they should do the following:
- Do not exaggerate your report
- Identify yourself as a trained spotter
- Be as accurate as possible
- Do not assume the NWS already knows what’s happening
- Do not take offense if your report does not result in a warning
Reporting severe weather to the NWS can be done in a few ways. People can call 901-544-0357, go through NWS Memphis’s Facebook and/or X pages, or use the service’s website.
For a storm spotter reference booklet, click here. For a checklist on reporting storms to NWS Memphis, click here.
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