Weather spotters serve as eyes and ears for meteorologists

Stan Arnett has been tracking severe weather for at least three decades.

The 70-year-old Marysville man is one of about 50 trained weather spotters in St. Clair County.

Arnett said it was something he started doing through his love of amateur radio.

"A long time ago I was interested in the magic of communicating around the world or even locally on two-way radios," he said.

Now he uses that hobby to talk to people around the world and help meteorologists determine if severe weather warnings need to be issued.

"Any severe weather ... anything that significantly impacts citizenry," is reported, Arnett said. "It's just something I can do."

Rich Pollman, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service White Lake office, said about half of the 5,000 spotters in the 17-county region are ham radio operators.

He said that is the most reliable way for spotters to send in their information, as telephone lines and other infrastructure that can be damaged in a storm isn't needed.

Pollman said more spotters are always needed, and being an amateur radio enthusiast isn't a requirement.

Reports from the ground allow meteorologists to better know what is happening and if warnings or advisories are needed — like with Monday's lake-effect snow storm.

"The weather spotters serve as our eyes and ears out there across southeast Michigan. When we issue warnings, we do relay on radar data and other environmental data, but we do need the spotters out there to help see what's happening below the cloud level," Pollman said. "The spotters are going to help us with that warning issuance. In a perfect world they're going to help us with the downstream communities."

Spotters must go through training to join the program, and then need refresher training every two to five years.

The next training will be held March 14 at the St. Clair County building, 200 Grand River Ave., Port Huron. The session, about 90 minutes long, is free to attend.

The St. Clair County Weather Reporting Program is run through the county homeland security and emergency management office.

"Their participation provides eyes and ears throughout the county not only to inform us of conditions but at time verify situations," said Jeff Friedland, director of the homeland security and emergency management. "Their input saves valuable time and allows us to provide information to the public. We utilize their information for social media and our dashboard on our be-ready website."

Pollman said it is important to note weather spotters are not storm chasers.

"It's just to visually see the weather and report it from the safety of your home or place of work," he said. "All we ask is if they see something, they report it to us."

Contact Liz Shepard at (810) 989-6273 or lshepard@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @lvshepard. 

If you go

The National Weather Service is hosting a weather spotter training session at 7 p.m. March 14 in the St. Clair County building, 200 Grand River Ave., Port Huron. 

The training is free. 

Get involved

Those interested in joining the St. Clair County Weather Reporting Program can contact the office of homeland security and emergency management at (810) 989-6965 or emergencymanagement@stclaircounty.org. 

Find them on Facebook: facebook.com/BeReadyStClairCounty/

What is reported

Tornadoes, water spouts and funnel clouds.

Damaging winds that down trees, large limbs and power lines or any wind producing property damage.

Hail of at least 1/2 inch in diameter. 

Lightning that produces damage, injury or death.

Flooding, ice jams, bank-full rivers or streams.

Measured rainfall that exceeds 1 inch in a 24 hour or less time period.

Freezing rain that impacts travel or causes damage.

Snowfall greater than 1 inch.

Any other event that you feel may help determine the severity of storms. 

Source: National Weather Service.