The National Weather Service will be in town for a free severe weather training session. The past year has brought extremes to the state of Texas. We had numerous tornadoes on April 29th, but we also had areas of drought and wildfires. We even had record setting rains near Houston from Hurricane Harvey.
In other words, 2017 pretty much had it all. The 2018 severe weather season is not too far away, and the National Weather Service and local emergency management officials want you to be ready.
To get ready, you are invited to the most recent SKYWARN storm spotter class. The National Weather Service will be offering a free class at the SKYWARN severe weather program on Thursday, February 22nd, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
The program will be held at Freestone County Fair Grounds – Civic Center in Fairfield and is held in partnership with Freestone County Emergency Management.
This class is free of charge and no pre-registration is necessary. This class is for organized storm spotters and/or anyone with an interest in severe weather. This is part of a regional severe weather preparedness campaign, which will include spotter training sessions across 46 counties in North and Central Texas. Other classes in the region can be found on the full schedule http://www.weather.gov/fwd/skywarnsch?sptrsch
This year’s program discusses thunderstorm formation, ingredients, and features associated with severe and non-severe storms.
The program discusses severe weather ingredients by taking a close look at the meteorology behind the Canton area tornado outbreak.
Additionally, the program highlights severe weather safety and how you can report severe weather information back to local public safety officials.
“By coming to this training session, you will gain a better understanding of Texas’ severe weather season,” says Tom Bradshaw, Meteorologist-in-Charge of the NWS Fort worth Office.
“Waiting until storms are on your doorstep is not the time to start thinking about severe weather preparedness. We hope you attend these free sessions to learn more about the severe storms that impact the region every year.”
The Freestone County severe weather program is one of 46 training sessions that the Fort Worth NWS Office will conduct between January and March 2018, with a session in each county.
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 http://www.weather.gov/fortworth, on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NWSDallasFortWorth and on Twitter: @NWSFortWorth.
