BATON ROUGE, LA — December 4, 2018 — As part of a unified effort, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome announces that her office, the Mayor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (MOHSEP), and the National Weather Service (NWS) will be hosting a SKYWARN Training on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, from 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at MOHSEP, located at 3773 Harding Blvd.

SKYWARN is a voluntary program developed by the National Weather Service (NWS) where volunteers serve as storm spotters for the NWS and local emergency management programs. The goal of SKYWARN is to improve the warning program by delivering timely severe weather warnings. Keeping their eyes on the sky, volunteers serve as the eyes and ears for the whole community. Storm spotters come from all walks of life, but they all have generally two things in common: an interest in the weather and an interest in serving their community.

The NWS needs real-time reports of hail size, wind damage, flash flooding, heavy rain, and tornado development, in order to effectively warn the public. Even as new technology allows the NWS to issue warnings with more lead time, spotters will always be needed as links between radar indications of severe weather and on-the-ground information.

Basic SKYWARN Training Features:

• Basics of severe weather identification

• How to report severe weather

• Explanations on NWS Watch and Warning Products

• Basic Safety Rules and Preparations for Severe Weather

Mayor Broome encourages East Baton Rouge Parish residents to attend. “This training will not only bolster safety for severe weather, but will also provide everyone an opportunity to take a personal part in making our whole community #BResilient,” Mayor Broome said.

For more information, citizens can visit www.brla.gov/MOHSEP as well as register to attend the training.