Storm spotter
Encyclopedia
A storm spotter is a specific type of weather spotter
who actively maintains a visual watch of the development and progression of specific weather events while actively relaying important information to the local weather agency in a timely manner.
during the early 1940s. A joint project between the military and weather bureau saw the deployment of trained military and aviation lightning spotters in areas where munitions for the war were manufactured. During 1942 a serious tornado
struck a key operations center in Oklahoma
, and another tornado struck on May 15, 1943, destroying parts of the Fort Riley
military base located in Kansas. After these two events and a string of other tornado outbreaks, spotter networks became commonplace, and it is estimated that there were over 200 networks by 1945. Their mandate had also changed to include reporting all types of active or severe weather
; this included giving snow depth and other reports during the winter as well as fire reports in the summer, along with the more typical severe weather reports associated with thunderstorms. However spotting was still mainly carried out by trained individuals in either the military, aviation or law enforcement fields of service. It was not until 1947 that volunteer spotting as it exists today was born.
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 weather radar
s 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 is detected at a height of 1 kilometre or more above the ground. Ultimately the radar cannot see what exactly occurs at the surface of the earth, and storm spotters now correlated ground truthing with radar signatures.
The 1960s through to the present has seen the development of new spotter technologies and training techniques. Prior to 1960 the vast majority of amateur radio communication relied on AM
-modulated signals and the use of simplex
. It was not uncommon for spotters to only 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
repeaters 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. The next major technology to aid spotters was the development of the cell phone in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was now possible for non-amateur radio operators to directly report severe weather.
The late 1980s and early 1990s would popularize spotting and its public perception. 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 attributed to saving lives as well as aiding university research groups, who would drop sensors such as TOTO
in the path of tornadoes and at times fire rocketsonde
s directly at or very close to tornadoes. At about the same time early storm chasers
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.
, weather radio, pagers and cell phones have made spotter activation quick and efficient; however, the basic goal of spotting has remained relatively unchanged to this day. In making these reports, spotters use a specialized set of jargon
and slang
to describe their observations.
The primary group responsible for storm spotting in the USA is known as Skywarn
. 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 operates a network of observers.
There have also been recent complaints that mobile spotters are a danger to others on the road. Mobile spotters commonly park their vehicles on the shoulder for a short time while they observe. In some areas parking on the shoulder is only allowed in emergency situations, and it is also believed that spotters pose a distraction to others driving. Most spotter groups do support parking on the shoulder as long as it can be safely done and there is no other alternative. The use of amber lights to alert drivers that a spotter vehicle is parked is also highly recommended. One controversy which has emerged is the use of such lights. Light bars and strobe lights have been becoming increasingly popular with the storm-spotting and storm-chasing community, since both groups often travel in less than ideal weather conditions where visibility may be limited. However, in recent years some spotters have been seen using red, blue, white and/or green lighting devices, apparently imitating emergency vehicles. Such actions are illegal in most areas and are highly condemned by both the spotter and storm-chaser community, "flashing light bars added to your chase vehicle (similar to those used by law enforcement) may be illegal in some places and their use to imply some sort of official status to your chasing is probably going to get you in trouble".
Storm spotters generally operate in a local area, with their primary purpose being the observation and reporting of severe weather. Storm chasers generally travel, with the primary goal being the observation and documentation of severe weather through pictures and video. Confusion of the two occupations is possible, as there is overlap between both groups' activities. Many spotters do carry photo and video equipment to document severe weather and damage, which may be used as training material for future spotters and historical evidence. Additionally, chasers report storms to aid spotters, and take part in spotter training sessions.
After 1996 with the explosion of storm chaser interest there was a move by many spotter groups to distance themselves from storm chasers for fear of being perceived in a negative light. However, in many cases this was a temporary short-term move to protect against any backlash from emergency management officials. Today spotters and storm chasers work together in the field when conveying data and generally benefit from one another.
Weather spotter
A weather spotter is any individual who observes weather for the purpose of reporting his or her observations to a larger weather group or organization. Examples include National Weather service co-op observers and Skywarn storm spotters.-Storm spotters:...
who actively maintains a visual watch of the development and progression of specific weather events while actively relaying important information to the local weather agency in a timely manner.
History
Storm spotting developed in the United States of AmericaUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the early 1940s. A joint project between the military and weather bureau saw the deployment of trained military and aviation lightning spotters in areas where munitions for the war were manufactured. During 1942 a serious tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
struck a key operations center in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, and another tornado struck on May 15, 1943, destroying parts of the Fort Riley
Fort Riley
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in Northeast Kansas, on the Kansas River, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 100,656 acres in Geary and Riley counties and includes two census-designated places: Fort Riley North and Fort...
military base located in Kansas. After these two events and a string of other tornado outbreaks, spotter networks became commonplace, and it is estimated that there were over 200 networks by 1945. Their mandate had also changed to include reporting all types of active or severe weather
Severe weather
Severe weather phenomena are weather conditions that are hazardous to human life and property.- Examples Include :Severe weather can occur under a variety of situations, but three characteristics are generally needed: a temperature or moisture boundary, moisture, and , instability in the...
; this included giving snow depth and other reports during the winter as well as fire reports in the summer, along with the more typical severe weather reports associated with thunderstorms. However spotting was still mainly carried out by trained individuals in either the military, aviation or law enforcement fields of service. It was not until 1947 that volunteer spotting as it exists today was born.
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
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
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
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
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 weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
s 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 is detected at a height of 1 kilometre or more above the ground. Ultimately the radar cannot see what exactly occurs at the surface of the earth, and storm spotters now correlated ground truthing with radar signatures.
The 1960s through to the present has seen the development of new spotter technologies and training techniques. Prior to 1960 the vast majority of amateur radio communication relied on AM
Amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
-modulated signals and the use of simplex
Simplex communication
Simplex communication refers to communication that occurs in one direction only. Two definitions have arisen over time: a common definition, which is used in ANSI standard and elsewhere, and an ITU-T definition...
. It was not uncommon for spotters to only 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
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
repeaters 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
Noise floor
In signal theory, the noise floor is the measure of the signal created from the sum of all the noise sources and unwanted signals within a measurement system, where the noise is defined as any signal other than the one being monitored....
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. The next major technology to aid spotters was the development of the cell phone in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was now possible for non-amateur radio operators to directly report severe weather.
The late 1980s and early 1990s would popularize spotting and its public perception. 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 attributed to saving lives as well as aiding university research groups, who would drop sensors such as TOTO
TOtable Tornado Observatory
The TOtable Tornado Observatory is a large, instrumented barrel-shaped device invented in 1979 by Dr. Al Bedard and Carl Ramzy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Technology Laboratory...
in the path of tornadoes and at times fire rocketsonde
Rocketsonde
A rocketsonde, a kind of sounding rocket, is a system for atmospheric observations that consists of a rocket that launches instruments that can make weather observations up to an altitude of 75,000 m. Common meteorological rockets are the Loki and Super Loki.A typical rocket is 3.7 m tall and is...
s directly at or very close to tornadoes. At about the same time early storm chasers
Storm chasing
Storm chasing is broadly defined as the pursuit of any severe weather condition, regardless of motive, which can be curiosity, adventure, scientific exploration or for news professions/media coverage....
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.
Modern Day
Technological advances such as the internetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, weather radio, pagers and cell phones have made spotter activation quick and efficient; however, the basic goal of spotting has remained relatively unchanged to this day. In making these reports, spotters use a specialized set of jargon
Jargon
Jargon is terminology which is especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, group, or event. The philosophe Condillac observed in 1782 that "Every science requires a special language because every science has its own ideas." As a rationalist member of the Enlightenment he...
and slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
to describe their observations.
The primary group responsible for storm spotting in the USA is known as Skywarn
Skywarn
SKYWARN is a program of the United States' National Weather Service . Its mission is to collect reports of localized severe weather. These reports are used to aid forecasters in issuing and verifying severe weather watches and warnings and to improve the forecasting and warning processes and the...
. 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
Canwarn
CANWARN is an acronym for CANadian Weather Amateur Radio NetworkThe CANWARN program is an organized severe weather spotting and reporting program organized and run by the Meteorological Services Division of Environment Canada...
is the Canadian spotter program run by Environment Canada
Environment Canada
Environment Canada , legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment Canada (EC) (French: Environnement Canada), legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment...
and similarly the Australian Bureau of Meteorology runs the ASP (Australian Storm Spotters) program in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the TORRO operates a network of observers.
Controversy
While there is no question that storm spotting has saved many lives and aided weather agencies greatly, there is great concern that storm spotting may actually put individuals in danger. It is a common practice for many spotters to leave their vehicles or places of shelter to better observe, but this also places spotters in a situation where they can be harmed or killed by lightning. Most spotting groups do not recommend that individuals leave their vehicles or places of safety.There have also been recent complaints that mobile spotters are a danger to others on the road. Mobile spotters commonly park their vehicles on the shoulder for a short time while they observe. In some areas parking on the shoulder is only allowed in emergency situations, and it is also believed that spotters pose a distraction to others driving. Most spotter groups do support parking on the shoulder as long as it can be safely done and there is no other alternative. The use of amber lights to alert drivers that a spotter vehicle is parked is also highly recommended. One controversy which has emerged is the use of such lights. Light bars and strobe lights have been becoming increasingly popular with the storm-spotting and storm-chasing community, since both groups often travel in less than ideal weather conditions where visibility may be limited. However, in recent years some spotters have been seen using red, blue, white and/or green lighting devices, apparently imitating emergency vehicles. Such actions are illegal in most areas and are highly condemned by both the spotter and storm-chaser community, "flashing light bars added to your chase vehicle (similar to those used by law enforcement) may be illegal in some places and their use to imply some sort of official status to your chasing is probably going to get you in trouble".
Spotters versus chasers
The 1996 film Twister spotlighted the world of storm chasing. However, at the same time it radicalized storm chasing in true Hollywood style.Storm spotters generally operate in a local area, with their primary purpose being the observation and reporting of severe weather. Storm chasers generally travel, with the primary goal being the observation and documentation of severe weather through pictures and video. Confusion of the two occupations is possible, as there is overlap between both groups' activities. Many spotters do carry photo and video equipment to document severe weather and damage, which may be used as training material for future spotters and historical evidence. Additionally, chasers report storms to aid spotters, and take part in spotter training sessions.
After 1996 with the explosion of storm chaser interest there was a move by many spotter groups to distance themselves from storm chasers for fear of being perceived in a negative light. However, in many cases this was a temporary short-term move to protect against any backlash from emergency management officials. Today spotters and storm chasers work together in the field when conveying data and generally benefit from one another.
External links
- http://www.zpcmobilespotters.com
- http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~doswell/spotter_history/spotter_history.html
- http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/nsw/sevwx/handbook/handbook.shtml
- http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/canwarn/home-e.html
- http://www.nws.noaa.gov/skywarn/