Press release
Officials with NOAA’s National Weather Service forecast office in Las
Vegas are looking for interested volunteers to help better protect residents of the
Owens Valley area by providing quality storm reports during severe weather.
Meteorologists from the Las Vegas forecast office will hold a twohour
Severe Weather Spotter Training class beginning at 5:00 p.m. Thursday, May 25
at the Bishop Indian Head Start building at 405 N Barlow Ln. The class is free of
charge and open to all area residents interested in weather, thunderstorms, or
public safety. All course materials are provided.
The training session is complete with videos and digital images to assist
volunteers in learning to identify important thunderstorm characteristics, types of
severe weather, weather safety, and reporting procedures.
“Organized in a partnership between National Weather Service Offices
and local county emergency management agencies, volunteer weather spotters
play an integral role in assisting forecasters in the weather warning process”,
according to Dan Berc, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the Las Vegas
National Weather Service office.
“The low population density across much of the area makes our volunteer
network a vital cog in obtaining reports of severe weather,” Berc said. “Realtime
reports from trained volunteer spotters can improve weather warnings for hail,
thunderstorm wind gusts, and flash flooding. These reports can help us
accurately locate weather hazards, and assist us in providing timely notification
of where storm damage is likely to occur. We are fortunate to have dedicated
individuals to help us better protect residents of the Owens Valley.”
Over 1,000 trained spotters assist forecasters at the Las Vegas office by
being those eyes on the ground across the area. Berc encouraged current
spotters to attend the training as a refresher course.
Additional information on storm spotting is available on the local National
Weather Service website at http://www.weather.gov/lasvegas or by calling the
Las Vegas office at (702) 2639744.
