National Weather Service teaches storm spotting class in Lawrence County

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. (KAIT) - The National Weather Service out of Little Rock trained a class in Walnut Ridge on what to look for during severe weather.

With the office in Little Rock over 100 miles away, they said it was important to have trained eyes on the skies.

“We feel that, for us to be effective; to issue warnings that are meaningful to the community what we must be in those communities, to get that message out. What people should be doing, and how we can work together to improve the warnings for the people in harm’s way,” Dennis Cavanaugh, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service said.

The class taught the differences between warnings and watches, different levels of severe thunderstorm warnings, and what to look for when looking at the skies during severe weather.

Cavanaugh said storm spotters are integral to the National Weather Service.

“They can give that information to us, and we can get more lead time on the warning, so we might be to get five additional minutes of lead time on a tornado warning, giving people five more minutes to get their family to shelter before something bad happens,” he said.

Copyright 2023 KAIT. All rights reserved.