Welcome to the Brain Storm "BE A STORM SPOTTER" training session.

This online course is provided in cooperation with the National Weather Service Forecast Office, Cleveland Ohio and Gary Garnet, Meteorologist and Training Coordinator, NWS, Cleveland, Ohio.

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Storm spotting is very difficult. Accurate storm spotting cannot be learned by just taking a course. Your best training will come when you actually observe thunderstorms and severe weather.

It's best to observe thunderstorms with someone who has experience. Every thunderstorm and weather situation looks different. No matter how many years one may have been storm spotting, each storm season brings new learning experiences.

This spotter training session uses numerous examples of various cloud formations important to storm spotting.

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The National Weather Service (NWS) is part of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is within the Department of Commerce.

The mission: The NWS provides weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts plus weather warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy. NWS data and products form a national information database and infrastructure which is used by other governmental agencies, the private sector, the public, and the global community.

NewsChannel5 and the National Weather Service issues severe weather warnings and NewsChannel5 broadcasts those warnings to more than 1.5 million viewers across most of northern Ohio. The Newschannel5 viewing area consists of 24 counties stretching from the Lake Erie Islands east to the Ohio-Pennsylvania line and from Cleveland south to Mansfield and New Philadelphia.

The National Weather Service county warning area is slightly larger and extends from Toledo in northwest Ohio through Erie, Pa. south to Mansfield, Wooster and Youngstown.

The National Weather Service in Cleveland typically issues about 400 warnings each year. For example, out of 422 warnings in 2003, four were for tornadoes. The other events covered wind damage or hail.

National Weather Service Warnings are available to the public from these sources:

• NewsChannel5 – You can tune to WEWS to receive National Weather Service watches/warnings/advisories
• NOAA Weather Radio - Your fastest link to vital information 24 hours a day.
• weather.gov/nwr
• Newsnet5.com - Your official source for reliable and accurate weather information
• www.weather.gov
• EMWIN -- Emergency Management Weather Information Network
• Commercial radio – LP1 stations broadcast all tornado, severe thunderstorm, and flash flood warnings.

Look for these useful National Weather Service products before severe weather develops:

• Storm Prediction Center -- Convective Outlook (http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/)
• Storm Prediction center -- Mesoscale Analysis (http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/md/)

Look for these useful National Weather Service products during severe weather:

• Hazardous Weather Outlook –- summary of potential hazardous weather threats for the next seven days
• Zone Forecast – a general seven day forecast for your specific county
• Short Term Forecast – a forecast for up to six hours in advance providing greater detail of significant weather features in your area
• Watch – a statement detailing potential development of severe weather
• Warning – product detailing specific severe weather threats on a county level
• Severe Weather Statement –- a follow-up statement to a previous warning which contains additional updated information
• WSR-88D Products – National Weather Service Doppler radar images