For Your Information:
Storm spotters are ordinary civilians who are trained and certified by the national weather service or a NWS sanctioned organization to provide life saving status information about ongoing thunderstorms through reports online or over radio. Storms spotters are on the front lines, making sure that the public is aware of any looming severe weather threats.
About me:
Hello there, my name is Alex. I have been enthralled by thunderstorms ever since I learned how to speak. When I was young, my dad always showed me videos of lightning and tornados; it sparked something in me, I just had to know how storms work. I suppose it was also out of fear, growing up in the Midwest meant that hiding in the basement because of tornado warnings was a common occurrence. I figured that if I knew how to predict how these dangerous thunderstorms would move and spawn then I would be able to set my mind at ease during them.
The desire to learn more built day by day until I was on a roadtrip to Colorado when I was 13. I remember there was a small thunderstorm in the distance and the only thing that was better than watching it was to research how it could have formed. I stumbled onto a the National Weather Service's website since they had some good information and at the bottom of the page it referenced the SKYWARN storm spotter program. While I wasn't old enough yet to get certified as a SKYWARN spotter, I did sign up for an adjacent program called SpotterNetwork.
From there my nerdiness just grew and grew. I got some fancy radar software, more certifications, and more training. I still have a long way's to go and I'm excited to get out there and learn more.
I don't have too much experience with storm spotting, Owen and I have gone on a few short expeditions to check out some storms but nothing which approaches the scale which we will be experiencing during these two weeks. Our project would ideally involve some sort of weather event to follow across the Midwest.
Currently there is only a good chance to spot storms if we drive down to Kansas this weekend and wait for a good setup for a few days. Owen and I will forecast this further as it approaches and may end up driving down there to get some spotting in.