Although spring is months away, the time to prepare for severe weather is now.
Moniteau County Emergency Management (MCED), in partnership with the National Weather Service's St. Louis office, is equipping people to be storm spotters with a training course scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at the California Nutrition Center, 107 W. Versailles Ave. In addition to weather and thunderstorm basics, a MCED news release said, the free course will also cover storm structure, features to look for in severe storms and how to report severe weather to the weather service. It will also bust severe weather myths and misconceptions.
As Moniteau County sits on the far edge of jurisdictions for the National Weather Service's St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield offices, the release said, it's even more crucial to have ground reports in the area due to the distance from the offices. Despite that, the storm spotter classes haven't been offered in Moniteau County for some time.
Only 15 courses are offered in the St. Louis office's jurisdiction, which covers 29 counties in Missouri and 17 in Illinois.
The classes last approximately two hours and are open to everyone. There is no requirement to be an active storm spotter following the class.
Although registration is not required, MCED is asking people wishing to attend to complete a form at www.moniteau911.com/stormspotter. Questions can also be directed to MCED Director Kevin Wieberg at [email protected] or calling 573-796-8416, extension 3.
"We are grateful to have the opportunity to host this course and hope to have a large attendance as we prepare for the spring severe weather season that is quickly approaching," the release said.