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Tornado Lookouts

Meteorologists use radar to help forecast where tornadoes might form. But, the radar isn't sensitive enough to detect actual tornadoes. People are needed to do that.

The National Weather Service can't rely on reports from any old person off the street. These people don't have any training so they may not actually see what6 they think they see. Instead, the Weather Service offers classes that anyone can take to become part of SKYWARN, a network of trained volunteer spotters. Meteorologists can trust the accuracy of the trained spotter reports. If a tornado is spotted, they can issue a tornado warning with a good degree of confidence.

Storm spotting is different than storm chasing. Spotters work in organized networks to observe, detect, and verify severe weather events for the NWS and for local emergency managers. Local SKYWARN organizations are run on a county level, so spotters usually stay within or near their county.

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