OTTAWA — The National Weather Service’s severe storm spotter class will be tonight at 7 at Celebration Hall at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Ottawa. This year’s class will focus on the basics of convective weather and severe storm structure, including important cloud features associated with super-cell and squall line thunderstorms. Franklin County emergency management coordinator Thomas Winter said he’s often asked why the county needs storm spotters despite the high-tech weather radars at the Topeka office of the National Weather Service. At Ottawa, the NWS radar beam is 5,000 feet off the ground, he said. “There’s a lot of room between 5,000 feet and the ground for things to happen that you can’t see,” Winter said. The radar also sweeps over Ottawa once every five minutes, he explained. “A lot happens between 5,000 feet and five minutes … That’s why our spotters are so important to us.” The county is always looking for new volunteers to be storm spotters, he said. Although the class is to help train spotters and those who’d like to be spotters, the class is free and open to the public. The class will take about two hours.
Monday, March 13, 3 p.m.
