Contact: Keli Tarp
(405) -366-0451
Cell (405) 203-4839
Keli.Tarp@nssl.noaa.govJim

or Jim Purpura
(405) 366-6581

STORM SPOTTER TRAINING PLANNED

Representatives of the National Weather Service Norman Forecast Office, in conjunction with local county emergency managers, will conduct storm spotter training in February and March throughout central and western Oklahoma and north Texas.

The basic information sessions are open to current spotters and the general public. National Weather Service (NWS) presenters will include Meteorologist-in-Charge Dennis McCarthy, Warning Coordination Meteorologist Jim Purpura and Forecasters Dave Floyd, Dan Miller and Doug Speheger.

Topics will include spotter safety, recognition of types of severe storms, and the importance of spotters to the National Weather Service's warning process.

"The purpose of this session is to train storm spotters and others in proper methods of observing and reporting storms to the National Weather Service," Purpura said.

The NWS Norman does not recruit storm spotters. Contact the emergency manager in your area for information on becoming a spotter, Purpura said.

For more information about the training, contact the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Norman, (405) 360-5928 or online at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/.

Note: The attached schedule of spotter talks lists specific locations and dates, as well as local contact information. [http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/skywarn/spottertalk.html]