BEATRICE – About 100 people of all ages received a refresher course on spring and summer severe weather spotting, Tuesday night at the Homestead National Historical Park.


"The last time we had an in-person meeting was about two days before we went into our pandemic quarantine....so, we had a pretty good crowd at that time, as well. It's good to see everybody here."


Jefferson and Saline Counties Emergency Manager John McKee and Gage County Emergency Manager Lisa Wiegand organized the spotter training session…one of a series of such training sessions being held across Nebraska by the National Weather Service.  Brian Smith, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the weather service’s Valley Office, says forecasters need spotters to give them the who, what, when and where….of severe weather. He says the best training is going out, observing and learning storm features.


"So, why do we need storm spotters? One, it's to augment what the weather service sees on radar. Our radar is very good....it can see things. It can see especially hail, wind storm signatures, tornadic signatures. But, having that information from you, as a storm spotter, adds credibility to that warning. Not only gives us good information, but if we put something in our warning that a storm spotter sighted a tornado....studies have shown that people are more likely to take action."


Nebraska will be headed into its peak months for tornadoes, April, May and June….although tornadoes can occur in any month. Tuesday night’s session covered how to report hail, funnel clouds or tornadoes, learning the components of supercell thunderstorms, inflow and outflow from storms, watch and warning definitions, among other things.


"All that information from the radar, the storm spotters, the media giving that out....that leads to a good warning....and leads to people going to a place of safety."

Spotter Training, Homestead National Historical Park Education Center
Spotter Training, Homestead National Historical Park Education Center  

Gage County last year, had the dubious honor of recording the state’s largest hailstone….five inches in diameter…the size of a softball….west of the city. Weather spotters can report information in a variety of ways….on the National Weather Service webpage, by telephone, Facebook and twitter, among other methods.


"And, actually when the forecaster puts out a warning....that forecaster, he or she is looking for feedback from that warning. What's the storm doing? is it producing large hail, is it producing a tornado? I've got this tornado warning, and I haven't heard anything. So, we're looking for reports. As a last resort, we'll call people. We'll call the spotters. As a final resort, we may even go into the rural directories and try to find people who may have gotten hit."


Tuesday night’s weather spotter training was held at the Education Center of the Homestead. A Johnson and Pawnee Counties virtual spotter training course is coming up Wednesday, March 8th…..at seven p.m. Training sessions will be held in Nebraska City, March 15th….and in Falls City, March 16th…both at seven p.m.