• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Interesting LSR: WALL CLOUDS WITH SWIRLING DEBRIS

The report isn't detailed enough to make such a call, I think. "Swirling debris" could mean a lot of things, especially coming from a co-op observer (who, more than likely, is NOT a trained spotter).

Having worked at an NWS office in the past and having taken many a "tornado" report from spotters and the general public, my experience was that, while you log the report internally, you don't place it in the LSR as an actual tornado unless you're fairly certain about it. That's the way it worked at my office, at least (at the time).
 
Same thing happened to the tornado Scott Blair and I intercepted in Sicily Island, LA on 8 NOV 2000. Very obviously a tornado but in the LSR it was labeled as wind damage. The LSR was not edited but in storm data it is listed as an F2.
 
Ive never worked at a NWS office, but im wondering if maybe these are the initial reports, the "raw data" if you will, that somewhere they edit and further classify internally. Just a thought maybe someone can enlighten me on how they work.
 
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