Why does the NWS need storm spotters?
The National Weather Service is responsible for issuing severe weather warnings that alert people when a potential threat will affect their area. To do this, we study the environment leading up to a severe weather event in great detail and monitor technologically advanced Doppler Radar data. This technology does have limitations though. By adding in real-time reports from what the storm is actually doing makes our warnings that much more accurate, credible, and timely. We also use spotter reports to help verify if severe weather is or did occur during the official warning. The NWS will ALWAYS need storm spotters. There are roughly 1500 storm spotters in our County Warning Area.
