Free SKYWARN Severe Weather Program offered in Rockwall

Storm Spotter Training March 12

(ROCKWALL, TX – March 1, 2016) The severe storm season of 2015 will not be forgotten. Over 70 tornadoes were confirmed in North and Central Texas. Seventeen people lost their lives due to these tornadoes, and over ten more were lost due to flash flooding.

The National Weather Service in Fort Worth wants to help you prepare for the 2016 severe weather season. To help get you ready, the National Weather Service will be offering a free class at the SKYWARN severe weather program on Saturday, March 12^th, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The program will be held at Rockwall County Library in Rockwall and is held in partnership with Rockwall County Emergency Management.

This class is free of charge and no pre-registration is necessary. This class is for official storm spotters as well as anyone with an interest in learning more about severe weather. This is a part of an area-wide severe weather preparedness campaign, which will include spotter training sessions across 46 counties in North and Central Texas.

The 2016 program will discuss thunderstorm formation, ingredients, and features associated with severe and non-severe storms. Most importantly, we will discuss what you can do to keep you and others safe when thunderstorms threaten. The program will discuss spotter operations and recommended reporting procedures. The two hour presentation will be in multimedia format, featuring numerous new pictures of storms, as well as new video from the 2015 severe storm season.

The program is free and open to the public. No advanced registration is necessary. “By coming to this program, you will learn a lot about thunderstorms,” Fox said. “Even if you don’t become an active storm spotter, you will learn about how storms work and the visual clues you can identify when storms are in your area”

The Rockwall County severe weather program is one of over 60 training sessions that the Fort Worth NWS Office will conduct between January and March 2015. The National Weather Service in Fort Worth provides forecasts, warnings, and weather services for 46 counties in north and north-central Texas. For more information on severe weather, visit our website at weather.gov/fortworth, on Facebook: facebook.com/NWSDallasFortWorth and on Twitter: @NWSFortWorth.

Submitted by Melanie Jensen, Emergency Management Specialist, Rockwall County

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