South Plains Storm Spotters

A grave omission in my blog of yesterday was about Storm Spotters.  It was so grave, I will give the Storm Spotters an entry of their own.

Storm Spotters are volunteers who are trained to watch the weather, and report back to the National Weather Service the conditions they see.  They go out in severe weather events, using their own vehicles, their own radios, and paying their own expenses for traveling. They have a station at the National Weather Service, populated by one of their own, and report the conditions they are observing.

With all the sophisticated equipment the Natonal Weather Service has, eyes on is still very important.

Who are these Storm Spotters?  Many of them are emergency response personnel, including police and sheriffs, firefighters, and emergency medical responders.  Some, however, are just volunteers who do this because they want to. It is exciting, and dangerous.  It provides a community service that we so little think about, and we do not bother to thank these people.

So, today, I am thanking the Storm Spotters.

For more information: http://www.spsst.org/ is the website for the South Plains Storm Spotters, and http://www.skywarn.org/ is the national website.