National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

The National Weather Service will be conducting a Weather Spotter Training class in Kemmerer on Monday, June 12.  The class will take place at the Emergency Operations Center in the basement of the Law Enforcement Center (1032 Beech Avenue) beginning at 6:30 p.m.  The two hour class is free of charge and open to anyone with an interest in thunderstorms, weather, or public safety.  All course materials are provided and completion certificates will be given to all volunteers.  Additional training class dates and locations for interested people in western and central Wyoming can be found on the Internet by clicking here.

“These trained volunteers are a vital piece of the services our agency provides during severe weather events,” said Warning Coordination Meteorologist Chris Jones.  During active thunderstorm days, trained spotters provide timely reports that can play an important role in the weather warning process.  “The descriptive reports provided by trained spotters help to supplement what National Weather Service meteorologists are seeing on radar and satellite,” Jones said.  These helpful ground truth reports can aid meteorologists in issuing warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and flash floods.  Currently, the National Weather Service in Riverton has about 1,000 trained spotters across eleven counties in western Wyoming .  The two-hour multimedia training session will provide volunteers with information on important thunderstorm characteristics, types of severe weather, weather safety, and reporting procedures.  For weather and spotter information visit the local National Weather Service website at http://www.weather.gov/riverton or call the Riverton office at (307) 857-3898.