This post was written on April 9, 2018. With Spotter Training coming up again, here’s the list of sessions the NWS Pendleton is offering this year!
- Tri-Cities, April 10 6:00 PM, 651 Truman Ave (Richland)
- Webinar, April 24 6:00 PM, Registration details will be at this link
- John Day, April 25, 6:00 PM, Location TBD
- Yakima, May 16, 6:00 PM, 2403 S 18th St (Union Gap)
- Webinar, May 17, 6:00 PM, Registration details will be at this link
Spotter reports of life-threatening conditions are obviously very crucial to the NWS’s Skywarn program, but there are many other things storm spotters report to help improve forecasting that can be both life-saving as well as helping people save money, even in regions like the Mid-Columbia where we don’t see big storms that often. I have been a Skywarn spotter for the National Weather Service (NWS) for several years now. I feel like every time I tell someone I have completed the training, they envision me hanging out in one of those homemade tank-like vehicles you see on television driving around the Plains during storm season. While that would be a blast, I’ve never been one of those guys.
Training to become a Skywarn spotter varies depending on the NWS office training you. When I first became a spotter for the NWS San Angelo, Texas, the training was an all-day course, but for the NWS Pendleton, Oregon, it was (and still is) a two-hour class.
I reached out to Meteorologist John Peck at the NWS in Pendleton to ask him a handful of questions about how spotters help in our area of the country. At first, I was planning on just integrating these into the blog post, but his answers were very thorough, so I just decided to provide them in the Q and A format we had in our email exchange.
Q – We don’t have many severe storms or tornadoes in this area, so why is the National Weather Service looking for spotters here?
A – While we don’t typically get many severe thunderstorms, we do get some. With our limited radar coverage and somewhat sparse surface observation network spotter reports are critical during these events. We also rely on spotter reports for things like localized flooding due to ice jams, areas of blowing dust or dense fog and heavy rain/snow accumulation. Spotters also come away from training with a better understanding of what National Weather Service products are available and can spread this information to their friends.
Q – What sort of things do spotters report, and how does this affect forecasting?
A – We ask spotters to report tornadoes, funnel clouds, thunderstorms and hail (winds of 40 mph or greater and/or any hail) flash flooding, non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or greater or any wind damage, snowfall and/or ice accumulations, significant visibility reductions (1/4 mile or less) in blowing dust or fog, or any time they notice what they are seeing is significantly different than the forecast. This information gets directly to the forecaster who then decides if our current product suite needs to be updated. Research has shown that the public is more likely to take protective actions when the threat is spotter confirmed in our warning products. Your report can save lives!
Q – How would a storm spotter report to Pendleton, do you have a preferred medium such as by phone or social media?
A – For high impact or time-sensitive reports (things like flash flooding, damaging hail, tornadoes, etc) we prefer a call to our toll-free spotter line. This line rings directly through to operations and is the fastest way to put your spotter report in the hands of a meteorologist. Reports/pictures/videos are also accepted via Facebook/Twitter – @NWSPendleton, but these avenues are more appropriate for reports that are not time critical.
@NWSPendleton very dense fog in Boardman where we can’t see more than 200 feet or so. pic.twitter.com/k7y7zrLnhE
— Mark Ingalls (@markaingalls) April 6, 2018
Thank you for the report and photo!
— NWS Pendleton (@NWSPendleton) April 6, 2018
Q – Do storm spotters have any sort of obligations to the National Weather Service, like notifying them if they will be out of the area?
A – Our spotter program is informal. Spotters may continue their daily routine and work schedule. They do not need to notify us when they are out of the area. We do ask to give us a call if you permanently move so we can update our records.
Q – If available, how many people have completed the spotter training course for the Pendleton office?
A – We currently have around 2100 spotters in our spotter database who have completed training either with us, or another Inland Northwest office.
Weather alerts issued by NWS offices are issued by professional meteorologists trained to know how to read data coming from a number of sources, but these meteorologists are largely stuck in their office building. From outside their window near Pendleton’s airport, meteorologists can only see a fraction of the area they forecast for. Skywarn spotters act as the eyes and ears of the NWS during times of severe weather.
In 2017, the NWS in Pendleton issued 13 severe thunderstorm warnings, with seven of those including at least a portion of either Benton, Franklin or Walla Walla Counties in Washington or Morrow and Umatilla Counties in Oregon. The last tornado warning issued by Pendleton was in June of 2016 on a storm that passed south of Heppner.
Becoming a spotter is easy, simply register for and attend the class online.
Online resources:
– NWS Pendleton Spotter Training
– National Storm Reports from the SPC
– Skywarn
Other NWS Programs
For those interested, the National Weather Service also seeks public reports for the following programs:
CoCoRaHS
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network
Participants gather precipitation data at their homes and then submit these through the CoCoRaHS website or app. The program was started by the Colorado Climate Center in 1998 following a flood in Fort Collins, Colorado. The source of this flood was an extremely localized storm that dropped fourteen inches of rain in a portion of Fort Collins, while another neighborhood two miles away only received two inches. It killed five people and demonstrated the need for more widespread weather data. Reporting to CoCoRaHS is as simple as going outside, checking your rain gauge, and uploading the information.
mPING
Meteorological Phenomena Identification Near the Ground
Participants report currently falling precipitation via either the iPhone or Android app, such as rain, drizzle, snow, and hail. These reports aren’t used by local National Weather Service offices, but instead are sent to the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Oklahoma to help researchers determine the difference between what doppler radar images show and what is actually happening on the ground and to aid in developing new radar technology. To report to mPING, you simply open the app, pick the right precipitation type, and hit send.
Big thanks to John Peck at the National Weather Service in Pendleton for his quick response to my email and for his thorough answers.
