BUFFALO, N.Y. — The National Weather Service in Buffalo Thursday released the schedule for the spring 2020 SKYWARN Training classes that will be offered across Western and Central New York. By attending one of these classes, you will be registered as a local storm spotter and learn how you protect your community during weather emergencies.
The locations, dates, and times is as follows:
- Genesee County - Monday, March 30 at 7 p.m. at the Genesee County Fire Training Center in Batavia
- Erie County - Tuesday, April 21 at 7 p.m. in Room 202 in Schenck Hall at Daemen College in Amherst
- Allegany County - Wednesday, April 29 at 7 p.m. in the Chamberlain Room at the Crossroads Conference Center in Belmont
- Niagara County - Tuesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. at the Warren J. Rathke Public Safety Training Facility in Lockport
- Cattaraugus County - Monday, May 18 at 7 p.m. location TBA
SKYWARN Storm Spotters play a vital role in the decision making process during severe weather events through their observations and weather reporting. By providing reports such as hail size, rain accumulation and storm structure, spotters help NWS and broadcast meteorologists communicate the severity (or lack of) during weather events and confirm what they're seeing on radar.
During a SKYWARN Spring Training session, attendees will learn about the technology used in severe weather forecasting and how springtime natural disasters form. Attendees will also learn what to report and how to report those observations to the NWS. Topics discussed in the spring session include severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and flash floods.
Each session typically lasts up to two hours and you only have to attended on session, the one closest to you.
There is a corresponding SKYWARN Winter Training session that happens in the fall for winter weather.
