Weather buffs can get free training to become SKYWARN “storm spotters"…today and tomorrow in Lee County. Skywarn is a partnership between local emergency managers, the National Weather Service, and volunteer storm spotters. Willing participants are certified to recognize and report severe weather… like tornadoes, microburst winds and hail. Lee County Emergency Management Coordinator - Terri Kelly – says Skywarn volunteers help the experts gather data radar can miss.

“The radar is about 100 miles from here, so they can only watch from about 20-thousand feet up. So they have to get more eyes on the weather patterns…on occasion we do have some significant weather occurrences, smaller tornados, hail, large amounts of lightning and things like that…something that’s just out of the ordinary.”

Skywarn volunteers may also be contacted in the event experts are unsure of what they’re seeing… in hopes of getting ground level reports. Call the Lee County Emergency Operations Center to register. The training is free.