The National Weather Service SKYWARN Spotter Training Class will be held in LaVergne on Tuesday, March 27 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. The class, which is free and open to the public, will be held at Fire Station 3, located at301 Bill Stewart Blvd.
LaVergne, a storm ready community, offers the class annually to residents. To be considered storm ready, municipalities must have an emergency operations center, have a formal hazardous weather operations plan, and have other notification criteria in place.
“Anyone in the community can become a certified storm spotter,” said MayorSenna Mosley. “The primary goal is to save lives and save property by providing important information to the people who make critical warning decisions.”
As part of the spotter training class, people are taught what to look for as a storm approaches and how to prioritize weather events.
“In the average year, 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods, and over 900 tornadoes occur across theUnited States. During the past 10 years, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and flash floods have killed nearly 2,300 people in theUnited Statesand injured thousands of others,” said Susan F. Zevin, deputy assistant administrator for operations of the NWS.
“Because of storm spotter reports, plus the addition of new technology and improved warning dissemination, this death toll was reduced by more than 800 from the previous 10 years. While the figures still appear staggering, several thousand lives have been saved by reports from storm spotters,” she said.
No advanced registration is necessary to participate in the class, which is open to all ages.
