Keeping an eye on severe weather
Severe weather can be scary, but spotters who know what they're looking for can provide valuable assistance to local emergency service agencies.
Several free severe weather spotter training classes are being offered over the next few weeks in cooperation with the Lake County Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service.
"You become the eyes of the National Weather Service on the ground," said Kent McKenzie, Lake County's emergency management coordinator. "Radar is a wonderful tool, but radar can't see exactly what's happening. The information is really designed for someone out in the field when there's a threat of severe weather."
The spotter training program teaches participants how to recognize and report various weather conditions, including severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
"The weather service has been doing this since the late 1950s and it's become an annual tradition," McKenzie said.
The information is valuable for many reasons, including reducing the number of false positive reports of tornadoes, he added. There are about 50 spotters in Lake County, who also are amateur radio operators and part of a national network known as RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services).
Space is still available for several classes in the area. Registration is required. They are:
• Monday, April 13, 7 p.m., Antioch Fire Department, 835 Holbek Drive, (847) 395-9462, Ext. 30
• Wednesday, April 15, 2 and 7 p.m., Mundelein Fire Department, 1000 N. Midlothian Road, (847) 377-7025.
• Monday, April 20 and Wednesday, April 29, 6:30 p.m., Kenosha County Center, Highways 45 and 50, Bristol, Wis., (262) 605-7900.
Also, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency is providing two, one-day training classes for local officials for damage assessment and debris management training in the aftermath of severe weather. Both will be held at the Round Lake Beach Police Department, Municipal Way and Hook Drive.
The damage assessment session is at 8:30 a.m. May 5. Debris management is at 8:30 a.m. May 6
On-line registration is at state.il.us/iema/Training/OnlineReg/.