FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Sou Tirollo or Bill Floyd, Lee County Emergency Management
                (941) 477-3600

FORT MYERS, Fla. (March 12, 2001) – Interested persons now can volunteer for a program that uses a network of "storm spotters" to help warn the National Weather Service of severe weather.

The SKYWARN Storm Spotter Program is a partnership between the National Weather Service (NWS) and local communities. If you’re interested in volunteering, training will be held locally at the Lee County Emergency Operations Center (2665 Ortiz Avenue) on April 19 and 20. The April 19 session will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.; the April 20 class from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and again from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Walt Zaleski of the National Weather Service in Ruskin, Florida will be conducting the training.

Call Lee County Emergency Management at 477-3600 to register and visit the SKYWARN web site at www.srh.noaa.gov/tbw/severe/skywarn.html for more information.

The SKYWARN program was developed to assist in reducing the threat of severe weather. The most important element in this program is a network of volunteers (non-NWS personnel), or "storm spotters," who relay reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service. SKYWARN Storm Spotters aid in providing the citizens of their community with potentially life-saving information.

Even with today's new technology at our disposal, only one instrument can detect severe weather phenomena directly with absolute certainty – the human eye. A large network of spotters can be a great benefit to the NWS warning program. The basis for, and/or verification of, many severe weather warnings issued by the NWS may be directly attributed to SKYWARN storm spotters. NWS personnel consider their reports highly credible.

The NWS correlates ground truth reports to what is being indicated by the WSR-88D Doppler Radar. This helps in the overall educational process of determining how to best use the WSR-88D in the warning process. These reports lead to more accurate and timely warnings.

Volunteers who complete the training are sent an informational package, which includes a Spotter’s Guide. After successfully completing an open-book quiz, the volunteer is issued a SKYWARN ID number and they become part of the county’s SKYWARN roster.