CHARLESTON, S.C. (WIV) – There are 40 newly trained weather spotters in communities around the Lowcountry thanks to a National Weather Service SKYWARN training class held Wednesday night.
The event was held at the ABCNews4 studios in Mount Pleasant and led by NWS meteorologist Ron Morales.
Morales told the group spotters help the NWS in its core mission, to protect life and property.
"Basically, you are helping us help you," he told the group.
He said watchers will help NWS forecasters send better, more precise messages to areas that are in the path of a storm, giving them more information about what to expect.
Morales pointed out those differences in information by using the example of a tornado warning, showing what message the NWS would send without any spotter verification, and comparing it to what would be sent if a trained spotter had seen a tornado touch down.
"Now I think people who might not listen are starting to listen," he said.
NWS SKYWARN training covers the basics of how thunderstorms develop, the fundamentals of the structure of a storm, how to identify potential severe weather, what information to report to the NWS and how to report it as well as basic weather safety.
The two-hour class Wednesday night was free.
For more information on weather spotting, click here.
