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By John Hernandez
Weather Spotters are critical on the ground volunteers that identify and report severe weather conditions to the N.O.A.A.’s National Weather Service. A weather spotter class is being offered free to residents of the Tri-Community, SaddleBrooke, Hayden-Winkelman, and Kearny.
The class is sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (N.O.A.A.) and will be hosted by the Oracle Fire Department.
Storm spotters provide invaluable information to meteorologists by reporting severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, high winds and hail size which supplements data that can be used when issuing official severe weather warnings.
Spotters are trained by their local National Weather Service office. Upon completion of the scheduled training, spotters are assigned an identification number to use when submitting report by phone, ham radio or internet. Spotters support the mission of N.O.A.A. of climate monitoring and protecting life and property through accurate weather forecasts and warnings.
The training is scheduled for Apr. 22, 2013 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Oracle Fire Department fire house. Those interested in the training and volunteering to be a weather spotter can contact Doug Johnson at (520) 896-3613.
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