FRANKLIN COUNTY (KFSM)- A storm spotter training class will be held Friday (March 27) in Franklin County.
Rick Covert is a Franklin County storm spotter. Covert said The National Weather Service will be in Charleston to show soon-to-be-spotters what it takes.
“Unfortunately a lot of people’s conception of what we do is based upon the movie “Twister” and that’s just not what we do,” Covert said. “It’s about two hours of boredom punctuated by three minutes of sheer terror.”
Throughout the year Covert said they archive and study data from severe weather across the region.
“Spotting, reporting criteria, what to look for and how to tell the difference between something that may look to be severe weather, wall clouds of rotation, funnel clouds,” Covert said that’s just some of the information the class will cover.
He also pointed out that storm spotting is an unpaid position.
“When you see one in person or you’re in your vehicle, you’re spotting a storm and you start getting pounded by golf-ball-sized hail, that will cause a little bit of anxiety,” Covert said. “If you’ve not seen the [weather] events take place in person it’s awe inspiring, it’s not something you see every day.”
Covert said all are welcome to attend the class, whether participants are interested in spotting storms or learning about how this type of weather forms. The class is free to the public and will be held at the Charleston community center at 6:30 p.m.
