COLUMBUS – Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security (FCEM&HS) and The Ohio State University Department of Public Safety are co-sponsoring the annual Tornado and Severe Weather Spotter Seminar by the National Weather Service (NWS) beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 24, 2018 at The Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road, Columbus.
The seminar, led by meteorologists from the NWS office in Wilmington, Ohio, will provide specialized training to citizens, public safety officers and emergency management personnel on how to spot, report and prepare for tornadoes as well as other severe spring weather conditions in Franklin County. Trainees will be provided with the basic tools needed to become a severe weather spotter and assist NWS forecasters with the information necessary to issue warnings and updates.
“NWS relies on real-time observations from trained weather spotters on the ground to provide critical information that may not be available to forecasters during severe weather events,” said Jeffrey J. Young, Director, Franklin County Emergency Management & Homeland Security. “Weather spotters play a vital part in helping keep our community safe.”
"The safety of our campus community is our number one priority,” said Bob Armstrong, Director of Ohio State Emergency Management and Fire Prevention. “The training provides a great opportunity for us to enhance campus preparedness and be ready to respond when severe weather strikes.”
The four-hour training will cover the basics of thunderstorms, tornadoes, lightning, flooding, damaging winds, storm structure and development as well as what visual clues to look for that may indicate when the weather is about to turn severe.
Registration for the event has been closed due to a record high number of participants expected to attend this year's training.