Getting started as a spotter

[Brian OConnell]

I'd be leery of the meted.ucar.edu spotter training, when I took that it contained a non-trivial amount of misinformation, for example it said that if you are in a store and see a shelf cloud you should get the manager to put everyone in a closet to protect from high winds, which seems really extreme given the number of shelf clouds that have only 20-45 mph winds, it also implied that a shelf cloud is a tornado warning sign (yes I know tornadoes can form on or near shelf clouds, but I wouldn't really call a shelf cloud much more of a tornado warning sign than thunder)

Perhaps the worst was when they said that you should report both rotating and non-rotating wall clouds, and then ended the training by showing a picture of a classic LP supercell with a wall cloud with spiral striations and askign if this was a wall cloud, the correct answer was supposed to be that you can't tell from a still image, because it is only a wall cloud if it rotates, directly contradicting the instructions to report non-rotating wall clouds

 

[Randy Jennings]

@Brian OConnell Which UCAR training class are you referring to? It has been a while since I have taken any UCAR training, but I remember them as being perty good. I will say much of the material was produced a while ago, so it probably isn't up to date on the latest trends (like not reporting non-rotating wall clouds).

 

[Brian OConnell]

It was only the skywarn spotter one that had a lot of errors, the others seemed fine

To clarify at least in my CWA non-rotating wall clouds ARE supposed to be reported, the error was that the UCAR spotter training said that by definition it is only a wall cloud if it rotates

 

[Levi Mol]

Just became a Trained Spotter last month so happy

 

[Levi Mol]

Right now just spotting from home and having so much fun! Just don't know what your going to see.