(COLUMBUS, OHIO) – Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security (FCEM&HS) and The Ohio State University Department of Public Safety are co-sponsoring the annual Tornado and Severe Weather Spotter Training by the National Weather Service (NWS) beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 25, 2017 at The Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road, Columbus. The training and parking are free and open to the public.
The training, led by meteorologists from the NWS office in Wilmington, Ohio, will provide specialized training to citizens, public safety officers and emergency management personnel on how to spot, report and prepare for tornadoes as well as other severe spring weather conditions in Franklin County. Trainees will be provided with the basic tools needed to become a severe weather spotter and assist NWS forecasters with the information necessary to issue warnings and updates.
Deadline to register is the close of business Friday, March 17, 2017. Residents interested in the training can register on our website at www.fcemhs.org: Click link titled “Register for the 2017 Weather Spotter Training”.
“NWS relies on real-time observations from trained weather spotters on the ground to provide critical information that may not be available to forecasters during severe weather events,” said Jeffrey J. Young, Director, Franklin County Emergency Management & Homeland Security. “Weather spotters play a vital part in helping keep our community safe.”
“The safety of our campus community is our number one priority,” said Bob Armstrong, Director of The Ohio State Emergency Management and Fire Prevention. “The training provides a great opportunity for us to enhance campus preparedness and be ready to respond when severe weather strikes.”
The four-hour training will cover the basics of thunderstorms, tornadoes, lightning, flooding, damaging winds, storm structure and development as well as what visual clues to look for that may indicate when the weather is about to turn severe.
Driving directions to The Fawcett Center can be found at www.fawcettcenter.com/page/directions/
FCEM&HS, a government agency serving 42 local jurisdictions in Franklin County, coordinates countywide emergency and disaster planning, education, warning, response and recovery.