Weather Spotter Class

Last night I took the National Weather Service weather spotter class for the second time.  I first took it because I spend so much time outdoors in the spring and wanted to have my reports accepted as factual.  Yesterday's class was a refresher, but material cover was much more thorough than my past experience.  Another difference was that a good bit of time was spent on safety.  This brings me to the relationship with agriculture.

Most farmers are in the same place I am in the spring during prime tornado season.  You are in the field when weather is threatening.  You might not care to take the time to actually report what you see, but it would be good to know what you are seeing for your own safety.  What does that dark cloud mean?  Are those low hanging ragged looking clouds going to bring a tornado?  The class was excellent.

In addition to reading the clouds, I justify my smartphone because of it's weather capabilities.  On my phone, the accuweather mobile app seems to work the best.  National Weather Service has lots more information than most other weather sites.  I am looking forward to having them set up for mobile phones some day.  I often look at radar to decide if I have time to finish the next field.  I could go on and on about this topic, but you get the idea.