4Warn Weather – The threat of straight-line winds, hail and flooding jumps on people’s radar in the spring and summer, but severe thunderstorms can develop during any season.
Michigan added to its small list of wintertime tornadoes last month when tornadoes touched down near Marshall and Grand Blanc. Those tornadoes occurred during the early morning hours of Feb. 28. Later that day, snowflakes were in the air.
Doppler radar showed rotation and eventually confirmed tornadoes for both tornado-warned storms, but trained spotters were able to report what they were seeing on the ground. No one was reported hurt from either event.
While instruments can observe sky and ground conditions, SKYWARN storm potters also provide critical information about severe weather and reports of storm damage. These reports can assist the National Weather Service in providing accurate warnings.
The National Weather Service and partner organizations launched SKYWARN, a nationwide volunteer program, with this goal in mind.
You can join this force of hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the country.
As Michigan enters our severe weather season, the National Weather Service of Detroit/Pontiac will host free training classes across Southeast Michigan, including 16 in-person and four virtual classes.
Volunteer hopefuls are asked to attend one of the classes, which is scheduled to last no longer than 90 minutes. A person must be age 13 or older to become a spotter, but younger children are invited to watch and learn. During the class, participants will review last year’s severe weather season, discuss types of severe weather and their characteristics, and learn procedures for reporting severe weather. People can attend classes in any location, but pre-registration may be needed.
Virtual SKYWARN training webinars will be held on April 2, April 13, May 1, and June 6. The National Weather Service will publish registration links here.
The NWS notes that if widespread severe weather is expected on the date of any class, the session will be cancelled.
Southeast Michigan’s In-Person SKYWARN Training Classes
| DATE | TIME | CITY/TOWN | ADDRESS |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 5, 2024 (Tue) | 6:30pm-8:00pm | Dundee | Old Mill Museum, 242 Toledo St |
| March 7, 2024 (Thurs) | 7:00pm-8:30pm | Midland | Midland Law Enforcement Center, 2727 Rodd St |
| March 9, 2024 (Sat) | 10:00am-11:30am | Ann Arbor | Pioneer High School, 601 W Stadium Blvd |
| March 12, 2024 (Tue) | 7:00pm-8:30pm | Novi | Novi Civic Center, 45175 W 10 Mile Rd |
| March 13, 2024 (Wed) | 7:00pm-8:30pm | Livonia | Livonia Library, 32777 Five Mile Rd |
| March 14, 2024 (Thurs) | 7:00pm-8:30pm | Pinckney (Hamburg Twp) | Hamburg Twp Fire Dept, 3666 E M-36 |
| March 16, 2024 (Sat) | 10:00am-11:30am | Flint | Genesee Co. Bldg, Third Floor Auditorium, 1101 Beach St, Room G-25 |
| March 20, 2024 (Wed) | 7:00pm-9:00pm | Port Huron (Kimball Twp) | St. Clair County Emergency Management, 295 Airport Dr |
| March 21, 2024 (Thurs) | 7:00pm-8:30pm | Saginaw (Thomas Twp) | Thomas Twp Fire Dept, 355 N Miller Rd |
| March 23, 2024 (Sat) | 10:00am-11:30am | Clinton Twp | Macomb ISD, 44001 Garfield Rd |
| March 30, 2024 (Sat) | 1:00pm-3pm | Detroit | Detroit Public Library - Main, 5201 Woodward Ave |
| April 9, 2024 (Tue) | 6:00pm-7:30pm | Lapeer | Pix Theater, 172 W Nepessing St |
| April 11, 2024 (Thurs) | 6:00pm-7:30pm | Taylor | Wayne County Community College - Downriver Campus, 21000 Northline Rd |
| April 16, 2024 (Tue) | 6:00pm-7:30pm | Waterford Twp | Waterford Oaks Activity Center, 2800 Watkins Lake Rd |
| April 30, 2024 (Tue) | 6:00pm-7:30pm | Reese | Reese Fire Dept, 1955 Gugino Rd |
| May, 14, 2024 (Tue) | 6:00pm-7:30pm | Adrian | Siena Heights University, Dominican Hall, 1247 E Siena Heights Dr |