No Specialized Experience is Needed - Everyone is Welcome!!
The National Weather Service Office in North Platte, Nebraska will provide virtual spotter training via the Severe Weather Spotter training in Spring 2021. Please see the schedule below for our latest online spotter training opportunities. All interested spotters are welcome to attend any one of our virtual spotter courses, provided that you are a resident in the NWS North Platte service area. If you have further questions, please contact the Warning Coordination Meteorologist Shawn Jacobs directly.
The National Weather Service Forecast Office in North Platte, in coordination with county emergency managers, volunteer fire departments and other local community organizations offer storm spotter classes at several locations to prepare for severe weather season. If you would like to assist your local community by becoming a volunteer storm spotter and reporting severe weather to the National Weather Service, or if you simply want to learn more about severe weather, consider attending one of our virtual classes. Classes are approximately 1 to 1.5 hours.
Attendees are taught the basics of thunderstorm development, storm structure, the features to look for, and where to find them. What, when and how to report information as well as basic severe weather safety are also covered.
We will also provide an Advanced Spotter Course this year where we will dig deeper into forecasting details of high-based thunderstorms and landspout tornadoes.
Photo Courtesy: Michael Charnick - Frontier County (May 2019)
If you have any questions about a class date or location, please call the contact information provided, or visit with your local county emergency manager for scheduling the training. The training is free and may require pre-registration if noted on the date of training. If you have additional questions, email Warning Coordination Meteorologist Shawn Jacobs.
Additional learning opportunities include:
The schedule of classes is listed below. One need only attend a single class of each type, but you must attend a Basic course prior to an Advanced course.
Date | Type of Training | Time |
2/25/21 | Basic #1 | 7 PM CST |
3/4/21 | Basic #2 | 7 PM CST |
3/9/21 | Basic #3 | 7 PM CST |
3/16/21 | Advanced #1 | 7 PM CDT |
3/19/21 | Basic #4 | 7 PM CDT |
3/23/21 | Advanced #2 | 7 PM CDT |
3/24/21 | Basic #5 | 7 PM CDT |
3/30/21 | Basic #6 | 7 PM CDT |
3/31/21 | Advanced #3 | 2 PM CDT |
4/6/21 | Advanced #4 | 7 PM CDT |
4/7/21 | Basic #7 | 7 PM CDT |
4/8/21 | Basic #8 | 7 PM CDT |
BASIC SPOTTER TALK
Registration URL
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7125311849448241424
ADVANCED SPOTTER TALK
Registration URL
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/719801197606944526