UPDATE @3:45 p.m.
Storm Spotter training classes scheduled for this Saturday at UD have been canceled.
Skywarn posted on Facebook that all face-to-face trainings have been postponed.
A date for when the class will be rescheduled has not been finalized.
FIRST REPORT
The National Weather Service, with help from Dayton Skywarn, will be holding Storm Spotter Training classes in March and April.
This year, Dayton will be the location for the once-a-year advanced class which is March 14 on UD’s campus at Kennedy Student Union.
>> Tornado that hit Nashville was on the ground for over 60 miles, three times length of Dayton’s EF-3
This week on Cloudy with a Chance of Podcast, Chief Meteorologist McCall Vrydaghs and Meteorologist Kirstie Zontini sat down with a few members of Dayton Skywarn to talk about their roles during the Memorial Day tornado outbreak and why becoming a weather spotter can be a great thing to do ahead of severe weather season.
Dayton Skywarn is a weather spotter network of amateur radio operators who work with the National Weather Service to relay severe weather observations during storms. You don't have to be an amateur radio operator to become a storm spotter! Any age is welcome to attend the free classes all over the Miami Valley to learn more about severe weather from the National Weather Service.
Gary Clark and Don Parker are both co-coordinators of Dayton Skywarn. Park is a retired but still very active public safety officer and Clark is also a Damage Assessment Situational Awareness Lead. Both men worked the night of Memorial Day. They were gathering observations of the strong tornado on the ground and working with the National Weather Service to track it which helped the NWS with warnings.
Another guest and very busy man the night of Memorial Day was Harold Holden. He is a social media storm spotter and works on the Community Emergency Response Team in Brookville. After the outbreak, he was out in communities helping people as they began to put their lives together. The men reflected on what they learned that night as they all shared stories with Kirstie and McCall.
If you are interested in attending a storm spotter training class, follow the link below for a full list!
[ https://www.weather.gov/iln/spottertrainingschedule ]
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