Anyone Do Storm Spotter Training?

Always wanted to try to do this. When do you start and how long is it?
 
Since it's free and I like tracking severe storms and tornado events, I figured I'd try it out. Any tips or info from those SkyWarn certified?
The next time there is a lightning storm just stand beneath a tree.
 
Always wanted to try to do this. When do you start and how long is it?
It was around 2 hrs of basic information and reporting basics. Just go to your nearest NWS website and look for spotter training. Last session for my area is Wednesday. Looks like March and April are the yearly time frames.
 
Never took a course on it, but lived here all my life.
3 things to always remember.

Never get in front of the 'Hook Echo'
There is always Hail in front of a Tornado
Watch it on TV and stay off the roads
 
Number one tip for storm chasers is when you get too close to a tornado you're fucked. That shit flying around the funnel can be going at 112 MPH in an F1 and so a splinter can be a projectile.


F-Scale Number
Intensity Phrase​
Wind SpeedType of Damage Done

The Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity​
F0​
Gale tornado​
40-72 mph​
Some damage to chimneys; breaks branches off trees; pushes over shallow-rooted trees; damages sign boards.
F1​
Moderate tornado​
73-112 mph​
The lower limit is the beginning of hurricane wind speed; peels surface off roofs; mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned; moving autos pushed off the roads; attached garages may be destroyed.
F2​
Significant tornado​
113-157 mph​
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off frame houses; mobile homes demolished; boxcars pushed over; large trees snapped or uprooted; light object missiles generated.
F3​
Severe tornado​
158-206 mph​
Roof and some walls torn off well constructed houses; trains overturned; most trees in forest uprooted
F4​
Devastating tornado​
207-260 mph​
Well-constructed houses leveled; structures with weak foundations blown off some distance; cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5​
Incredible tornado​
261-318 mph​
Strong frame houses lifted off foundations and carried considerable distances to disintegrate; automobile sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 meters; trees debarked; steel re-inforced concrete structures badly damaged.
 
Never took a course on it, but lived here all my life.
3 things to always remember.

Never get in front of the 'Hook Echo'
There is always Hail in front of a Tornado
Watch it on TV and stay off the roads
E0BwCFtXMAY5-Dg
 
Number one tip for storm chasers is when you get too close to a tornado you're fucked. That shit flying around the funnel can be going at 112 MPH in an F1 and so a splinter can be a projectile.


F-Scale Number
Intensity Phrase​
Wind SpeedType of Damage Done

The Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity​
F0​
Gale tornado​
40-72 mph​
Some damage to chimneys; breaks branches off trees; pushes over shallow-rooted trees; damages sign boards.
F1​
Moderate tornado​
73-112 mph​
The lower limit is the beginning of hurricane wind speed; peels surface off roofs; mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned; moving autos pushed off the roads; attached garages may be destroyed.
F2​
Significant tornado​
113-157 mph​
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off frame houses; mobile homes demolished; boxcars pushed over; large trees snapped or uprooted; light object missiles generated.
F3​
Severe tornado​
158-206 mph​
Roof and some walls torn off well constructed houses; trains overturned; most trees in forest uprooted
F4​
Devastating tornado​
207-260 mph​
Well-constructed houses leveled; structures with weak foundations blown off some distance; cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5​
Incredible tornado​
261-318 mph​
Strong frame houses lifted off foundations and carried considerable distances to disintegrate; automobile sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 meters; trees debarked; steel re-inforced concrete structures badly damaged.
It is not that the wind is blowing, it is what the wind is blowing. ~Ron White
 
I've been in 7 different Tornado's in my lifetime, that were within 2 miles of me.

This was the closest one. This was my neighborhood and I was home when this one hit.
Destroyed houses just 3 houses down from mine.
In Oklahoma, you better have an understanding of storms

 
Tornados is some bitches...

If you live in the areas that they frequent, you kinda start to understand and identify the bad clouds.

When you see the anvils start forming west of you and blocking out the sun from 200+ miles away...you know to keep the cellar door open.
When the clouds start looking green you know hail is on the way.
When you feel the hairs on your body stand up, lightning is thinking about zapping your ass.
Don't drive into water.
 
I just looked at the NWS website, I don't see any local training here in South Texas, dammit! This would be really cool.
 
I've been in 7 different Tornado's in my lifetime, that were within 2 miles of me.

This was the closest one. This was my neighborhood and I was home when this one hit.
Destroyed houses just 3 houses down from mine.
In Oklahoma, you better have an understanding of storms



I can't say I have ever been in one. However, in Nebraska there were 2 times where a tornado hit part of the city and then I guess came down again and if it travelled a straight line then it went over our house.
 
I can't say I have ever been in one. However, in Nebraska there were 2 times where a tornado hit part of the city and then I guess came down again and if it travelled a straight line then it went over our house.


That means you were in one. Have no doubt
 
We are under a tornado warning right now, the hail is loooooouuuud!
 
Baseball sized hail in Blanchard, OK right now.

Norman getting ready to get hit.
 
Thousands of cars in Norman with their windshields knocked out.
 
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