Severe storm program set March 10

The 2007 storm season in north Texas was one for the history books. Widespread devastating flooding, large destructive windstorms, tornadoes and hail all made appearances in the area. The toll on life and property was significant, with dozens of casualties and damage in the tens of millions of dollars.

The 2008 severe weather season is just around the corner. Are you ready for what's in store?

As part of its areawide weather preparedness campaign, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth will answer these and many other questions in a severe storm spotter training program March 10 from 7-9 p.m. at the Lampasas Fire Dept. Administration Building, co-sponsored by the Lampasas County Emergency Management Office and the Lampasas Fire Department.

The 2008 program will emphasize three fundamental concepts for severe weather events: observing, reporting and safety.

The program will discuss thunderstorm formation, severe weather production and features associated with severe storms.

The presentation also will review tornado formation and behavior, and safety when thunderstorms threaten as well as spotter operations and recommended procedures when spotting.

The two-hour presentation will be in multimedia format, featuring numerous pictures of storms and storm video clips.

"We have some new material in the 2008 spotter training program," said Gary Woodall, warning coordination meteorologist at the Fort Worth NWS office. "Nearly all of the photos and video clips are different this year. We'll have many more identification cases, and we'll discuss the operational aspects of storm spotters in more detail."

Despite revisions to the program, the fundamental purpose of the spotter training -- and of the storm spotter network as a whole -- remains unchanged.

"We could not do our job as well as we do without storm spotters. Radar is a great tool, but it only tells us part of a storm's story. Spotter observations complement the electronic data we use to analyze storms," said Woodall. "The combination of spotter reports and radar data gives us the best possible picture of the storms and what's going on inside them."

The program is free and open to the public. "By coming to the program, you will learn a lot about thunderstorms," said the NWS official.

"Even if you don't become an active storm spotter, you will learn about how storms work and the visual clues you can identify when storms are in your area."

Discussion also will cover severe weather safety tips to prepare for threats storms can pose.

For more information on severe weather and the Fort Worth office of the National Weather Service, NWS, visit www.weather.gov/fortworth.