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SKYWARN Storm Spotter Training held on campus

By Ginger Walker

SKYWARN Storm Spotter Training held on campus

Dan Reilly, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office for Houston-Galveston, in coordination with the University of Houston Office of Emergency Management, conducted a SKYWARN Storm Spotter Training March 22 on the UH campus.

Trained SKYWARN storm spotters are very valuable to the National Weather Service. The spotters are a group of trained volunteers who learn to view the skies during severe weather and relay reports back to the National Weather Service. From cloud formations to changes in the wind, the spotters learn what the warning signs are and the importance of sharing that information with the National Weather Service.

More than 20 participants, including UH staff, students and individuals from the surrounding Houston area, came to learn how to identify different types of severe weather incidents.

“Weather-related incidents are the most common emergencies for campus and the Houston area,” said Kelly Boysen, director of the UH Office of Emergency Management. “Having trained spotters who can report what they see is not only valuable to the National Weather Service, but also to the University of Houston community, as we rely on the NWS in communicating hazardous weather conditions.”