Atlantic, IA – The Cass County Emergency Management Agency will host a Storm Spotter Training Program Tuesday, March 11th at 6:30pm in the courtroom of the Cass County Courthouse. A meteorologist from the National Weather Service – Des Moines (NWS-DM) will provide participants with information for safely observing and reporting severe weather. This training is open to the general public, requires no registration and is FREE.

Each year, NWS-DM meteorologists travel to counties they serve to provide a comprehensive multi-media spotter training presentation. The course contains information about severe weather climatology, severe thunderstorm types, different severe weather threats and how to identify them, how to report severe weather, spotter safety and severe weather communications. Spotter training classes last between one and two hours, are open to the public and are free of charge.

Mike Kennon, Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator, says that Trained Spotters provide an invaluable service. Real-time observations of severe weather assist the NWS in their warning decisions to help protect life and property. Kennon adds that he expects a large turnout for this training after the devastating tornadoes in Minden and Greenfield last spring.

This Spotter Training class is sponsored by the Cass County Emergency Management Agency and questions concerning this training should be directed to the Cass County EMA Coordinator, Mike Kennon at 712-254-1500.