National Weather Service seeks winter weather spotters in Detroit
The National Weather Service expects a warmer and wetter than normal winter in southeast Michigan. But that doesnβt rule out chances for a few days of heavy snow, ice, and bitter cold.
The Detroit/Pontiac forecast office is looking for volunteer winter weather spotters to report extreme conditions.
What do spotters do?
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared Nov. 3-9 as Winter Hazards Awareness Week in Michigan. NWS Meteorologist Steve Considine says the agency will train people how to identify winter some of the most significant ones.
βThat can be terrible road conditions, tree damage, or power lines from either high winds, heavy snow, or ice,β he said. βThey report snowfall and rainfall amounts directly to the National Weather Service.β
Read more: Observers track rain data on Detroitβs flood-prone east side
Considine says spotters play a critical role in reporting and understanding the effects of severe weather.
βIt gives us kind of a big picture as to what is going on during adverse weather conditions in communities,β he said. βIt gives us a little bit of ground truth from what the radar and observational data are indicating.β
The training sessions are free, but spotters will need some basic equipment.
βFor rainfall, they will have to have a rain gauge,β Considine said. βFor snowfall, itβs just a ruler and a plain piece of wood set outside.β
Where to sign up
The weather service will hold in-person training sessions in Detroit on Nov. 13 and 16.
Considine says the agency wants to gather more weather information from city residents so meteorologists can understand how weather affects them.
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