POSTPONEMENT: The original Jan. 19 training session has been postponed to Feb. 23, with a new location: the Collin College Frisco Conference Center, Section E, 9700 Wade Blvd., in Frisco.
Collin County Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) and the Collin County Office of Emergency Management are conducting annual SKYWARN storm spotter training.
The initial session begins at 8 a.m. and runs through noon. An advanced session runs from 1-4 p.m. The training is free, open to the public, and no registration is required, but Pre-registration is available here.
SKYWARN is a volunteer program that taps thousands of trained severe weather spotters across the country who help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the
National Weather Service.
The NWS invites anyone with an interest in public service to join the SKYWARN program. Volunteers include police and fire personnel, dispatchers, EMS workers, public utility workers and other concerned private citizens. Individuals affiliated with hospitals, schools, churches and nursing homes or who have a responsibility for protecting others are also encouraged to become spotters.
- Basic SKYWARN training includes:
- Basics of thunderstorm development
- Fundamentals of storm structure
- Identifying potential severe weather features
- Information to report
- How to report information
- Basic severe weather safety
