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Storm spotting is a form of weather spotting in which observers watch for the approach of severe weather, monitor its development and progression, and actively relay their findings to local authorities.
After a series of vicious tornado outbreaks hit the state of Texas in 1947, the state placed special emphasis on volunteer spotting, and the local weather offices began to offer basic training classes to the general public. Spotting required the delivery of timely information so that warnings could be issued as quickly as possible, thus civilian landline phone calls and amateur radio operators provided the most efficient and fastest means of communication. While phone lines were reliable to a degree, a common problem was the loss of service when an approaching storm damaged phone lines in its path. This eventually led to amateur radio becoming the predominant means of communication and resulted in the installation of special amateur radio work zones within local weather offices. Volunteer spotters would come into the local office and run a radio net from within, directly relaying information to meteorologists.
The 1950s saw the deployment of the first dedicated in the United States, and by this time, civilian spotter networks were commonplace. The new reflectivity-only radars provided meteorologists with basic information and helped identify potentially severe storms, but due to the nature of weather radar, most precipitation was detected at a height of 1 kilometer or more above the ground. Ultimately, the radar cannot see what exactly occurs at the surface of the earth, and storm spotters now correlated with radar signatures. This early conventional radar showed intensity of echoes, inferring precipitation intensity and types, and the horizontal and vertical distributions provided information about storm structures and processes. The hook echo was a major method used as an indicator for potential for tornadic activity during the first decades of weather radar. During the 1990s in the US, Doppler weather radar was deployed, providing velocity data on echoes flowing toward and away from the radar location, which enabled inferences about storm rotation, such as , and other dynamics, as well as data on downbursts (and wind shear aloft). The 2010s brought polarization radar in the US, which enabled confirmation of the presence of stronger tornadoes by discerning nonmeteorological echoes colocated with rotation in velocity data, which indicates the presence of lofted debris. However, radar is still limited by factors such as not capturing near surface environment and limitations on spatial and temporal resolution. Therefore, ground truth information remains important.
New spotter technologies and training techniques have been developing since the 1960s. Prior to the 1960s, the vast majority of amateur radio communication relied on AM-modulated signals and the use of simplex. It was not uncommon for spotters to hear the distant net control station and not hear other mobile or base stations which were much closer. After 1960, amateurs adopted the use of FM broadcasting which operated in the VHF spectrum. The use of FM repeaters was a huge advancement for storm spotters; spotters could now hear each other regularly. The low noise floor and greatly improved audio quality meant much better signal reception for all stations. By the 1970s, nearly all spotter radio activity consisted of half-duplex FM repeater use. Amateur Radio History The next major technology to aid spotters was the development of the cell phone in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was then possible for non-amateur radio operators to directly report severe weather.
Storm spotting became more popular with the public during the late 1980s and early 1990s. During this period, a number of NSSL (National Severe Storms Laboratory) projects were carried out, some of which were documented and broadcast on television in a number of specials. Spotters and their actions were believed to have saved lives while also aiding university research groups, which dropped sensors such as TOTO in the path of tornadoes and at times fired directly at or very close to tornadoes. Microsoft Word - edo.doc At about the same time, early Storm chasing were popularized and associated with spotters. It is believed this association is what has led many in the present era to associate storm chasers and storm spotters as carrying out the same actions or having the same goals.
The primary group responsible for storm spotting in the U.S. is known as Skywarn. Many individuals hold Skywarn certification and/or amateur radio licenses. Other spotters are part of organized and highly trained local spotter groups, reporting their observations to the local emergency management office or National Weather Service office responsible for that area. A Skywarn group is either directly or indirectly affiliated or associated with the local weather office, and in many cases other agencies responsible for the well-being of individuals. Today, amateur radio still plays a key role, as most spotters opt to attain their radio licenses; however, cell phones are an ever increasingly popular means to directly relay information, along with other on-line spotter reporting protocols such as The Spotter Network.
Other spotters groups have formed in various countries. Canwarn is the Canadian spotter program run by Environment Canada and similarly the Australian Bureau of Meteorology runs the ASP (Australian Storm Spotters) program in Australia. In the United Kingdom, the TORRO has operated a network of observers since the 1970s. Since the 2000s, about a dozen European countries (including the UK) have operated autonomous storm-spotting organizations under the auspices of Skywarn Europe.
Countries in Asia such as Malaysia introduced a Community Service Oriented application called 'RakanMET' which allows volunteer public weather reports/spotting and two-way communication between the public and the Meteorology Department of Malaysia with the live weather report using Global Positioning System (GPS) from the reporter's smartphone. Such service allows better information sharing especially during monsoon seasons as storms are a lot more frequent.
Most trained storm spotters in the US are volunteer HAM radio operators that are organized by the National Weather Service and local emergency management groups. Sometimes, police, fire, security and other safety personnel can act as spotters.
By contrast, storm chasing involves following a developing thunderstorm to view or photograph severe weather phenomena. Chasing may be done for educational purposes or scientific research but is mostly done for personal fulfillment.
The main difference between the two is storm spotters 'warn,' while storm chasers 'track.'
A person can be a storm spotter, a storm chaser, or both.
The National Weather Service organizes in-person training sessions for storm spotters throughout the US. These often take place at a public venue such as a school or government building. Presentations usually include slide presentations and video. These sessions are free and open to the public for anyone wanting to become a spotter.
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