News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The National Weather Service will host SKYWARN spotter classes across the Upper Cumberland over the next three weeks.
Nashville National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Ryan Husted said the classes are designed to enhance the public’s knowledge of weather information. Husted said the class is about an hour and a half long and those who attend will learn how to report severe weather conditions in the spotter’s respective area.
“From those reports, we can improve our warnings,” Husted said. “Instead of saying a radar indicated potential tornado, now we can say a confirmed tornado doing damage and better define the locations, threat levels, and things like that.”
Husted said people are more likely to act accordingly when severe weather has been confirmed. Husted said spotters are very critical in reporting accurate weather information and the more spotters they have the better they can report.
Cookeville will host a class on Tuesday, October 15th, Crossville will host on Tuesday, October 29th, and Smithville will host on Wednesday, October 30th. Those interested in participating please visit NWS Nashville’s website for more information.
“The spotter talks are another way for us to get out into the community,” Husted said. “You know, put a face to the name and be able to work with our people, so we are reliant on the spotters reaching out to us and giving us that information.”
The classes are being offered at various Upper Cumberland locations including Cookeville, Crossville, and Smithville as they are part of the coverage area. Husted said the spotter classes have been highly anticipated.
“I have received a lot of interest,” Husted said. “It seems like wherever I go on outreach trips we often get a question of when are you going to have an in-person spotter talk and so we are getting back to doing that now and having talks in our local communities.”
SKYWARN spotter classes will also be available online. Husted said an online schedule has not been released.
