re:clouds and spotters (solderpunk) 04/04/23 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Solderpunk recently gave a terrifying introduction into cloud identification[1]. If you were thinking you might like to learn how to properly classify and describe those puffy things above you, read his post and get the notion out of your system as quickly as possible! I'm still shaking from it myself. To answer his question about my own small weather spotter training story: I was minding my own business, when suddenly I found that I had somehow been subscribed to the Mid-Missouri Skywarn Association mailing list on Groups.io. Honestly, I have no idea how I got there (though I have some guesses), but their messages were coming into my inbox, and so I figured it was probably time to get some training. Very quickly, I learned that the Skywarn program is somewhat defunct. Spotter IDs are no longer issued, the club is just a loose one at this point. In-person training was sparse, if available at all, but online training was an option (though, the old-timers seemed to frown on it as valid--go figure). I took the online training, and found it quite interesting. It mostly consisted of looking at diagrams and then taking small quizzes identifying weather from photos. To appease the old-timers (who I admire as a group in general), I wanted to find in-person training as well. My opportunity came when the NWS decided to hold a class in Jefferson City, about 30min south of my home. The class was at night, and in the winter. It was snowing ever-so-lightly when I arrived. TV crews were there (to record a small clip for the evening news weather segment), as were local emergency coordinators. Ultimately, it ended up being a lecture with photos and videos, and some quiz-ish sorts of activities. Our trainer was the radar tech from the STL office. Solderpunk mentioned that his impression of the spotter program was that it was "basically... a program to 'crowdsource' early detection of heavy weather", but the radar tech had a different take. She explained that due to technical limitations, radar is very bad at getting ground-level information. The NWS relies on trained spotters to report as much ground data as possible, which they use primarily for early warning systems. To be honest, the training was a little underwhelming. It consisted primarily of learning how to file a proper report, how to estimate wind speed, how to identify the parts of a thunderstorm and tornado, how to spot false positive patterns, and how to properly report the size of hail. The types of things that could have been in a brochure. I'm probably selling it a little short; it was nice to have a highly technical person there explaining things, and to be able to ask questions. Funny thing too: I was told that these trainings were usually only held once a year in an area, so I'd better not miss it. 30min drive wasn't terrible, but a couple weeks after the class, they announced they'd have a training right in Fulton, 5min from my house! If you like weather, and want to help out the NWS, I'd recommend the spotter training. If you just like weather, you might find the information a little thin, but still interesting. What you'll definitely not get out of it is the ability to memorize, or even understand cloud classifications! [1] gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space:70/0/~solderpunk/phlog/cloud-spotting-blues.txt