Science
(2011-03-16)
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Tom Russo
Fairfield County Emergency Management Agency Director Jon Kochis says being a card-carrying trained storm spotter for the National Weather Service means having some special privileges.
"(The card) has a special 1-800-number that only they have, only storm trained storm spotters can call into directly to the National Weather Service," Kochis says.
The perks of that card come with responsibility. Storm spotters act as the eyes and ears on the ground during severe weather events, adding a human perspective to the information.
"The National Weather Service can see everything they can about a storm through radar and through databases and all the computer programs that they run but it's only validated on the ground and that's usually by citizens. We don't have the staff or the funding to put people out in the field to monitor weather, so we rely on the citizens to validate what we're seeing on the computer screen," Kochis explains.
The class isn't exactly new. Kochis says they've held one every year for as long as he can remember. The National Weather Serivce offers the training in every Ohio county. In recent times, interest in Fairfield County is on the rise: Kochis says this year's class may break a record for participation. That means a lot of more eyes on the skies.
"We focus on the severe weather aspects, from rain to severe winds to tornadoes, look at cloud structures and which way storms generally happen in Ohio and where it's safe to observe them from. It's basically a Severe Storm 101 and it allows the citizens to have that knowledge in order to relay the information on," Kochis describes the class.
That information can be crucial when the weather goes from bad to dangerous in a matter of minutes. Kochis recalls severe weather events in the past where storm spotter information was particularly helpful.
"Tornado touchdowns that happened just this past fall, we had every location we went to someone had said, we saw this, we saw this', and it really gives a description of the events tell us what's really going on, well, to tell the NWS what's really going on," he remembers.
The way storm spotters relay information is advancing and improving all the time. Kochis says in the past, folks would simply call in and describe the events. Now, with high tech cell phones, the information is a little more detailed.
"We're getting visuals of what actually happened, people are the eye-witness news nowadays, they're the ones on the ground, showing us - videotaping and taking pictures of what's going on so we're getting more visuals of what's been happening and on top of still receiving a lot more calls because cell phones are more prevalent."
He offers, for safety's sake, a point of clarification: storm spotting is not storm chasing.
"We don't recommend anyone chase the storm, this is if you are in an area which a storm is affecting, how to safely observe a storm, how to seek shelter because our first thing that we want people to really understand is that they want to be in a safe location. If there is a tornado and it is anywhere in your area, you probably want to seek shelter you don't want to go out and observe and take pictures. You can call us when it is safe."
Kochis reassures even if a storm spotter doesn't snap pictures or capture video of the actual event, the information is still valuable after the weather passes.
"It's a field validation and it makes forecasting a little more accurate for the community that might be north of you or south of you or whichever way the storm is travelling - it gives them an idea of if the winds are increasing or decreasing or if tornadoes are forming. It helps in the forecasting immediately," he says.
The Fairfield County storm spotter class takes place March 28th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Liberty Center in Lancaster. © Copyright 2013, WOUB
