So a few years ago, when my brother Dave and I worked at Bible Camp together, we met this guy who said he was an aforementioned "Trained Spotter." Dave and I were fascinated by his stories. And when we were hit by storms that week, we happily trusted his expertise and tried to soak up as much storm knowledge as possible. This guy became somewhat of an idol. I was jealous that my brother got to spend more time with him than I could, and when the two seemed to become buddies, well, I looked for ways for my brother to take advantage of his friendship with him so that I would benefit, too. That summer was awesome for many reasons, but I'll never forget the bonding Dave and I shared because of our shared passion for all things weather. Many a night was spent listening to the weather radio and talking excitedly about our dream to own and operate a camp together and, more importantly, to one day become a trained spotters.
I am proud to announce that that "one day" has arrived. Last night I completed a two-hour Severe Weather Spotter training session. I will receive my "spotter identification number" in a few weeks. Seriously, I am kind of giddy about this. I did all I could to keep myself from calling my brother and having him listen in. So I did the next best thing: I recorded it with a digital tape recorder. Anywho, let me fill you in on a few cool things that I learned about spotting storms...
The first thing the instructor talked about was the importance of a trained spotters' report. He said that radar can only determine so much from a storm's activity, so having trained eyewitnesses is always the preferred method of gathering evidence needed to issue warnings and updates. How true, how true. It's always better to see it with your own eyes - to be there - and to tell of your own experience to someone when engaged in storytelling and matters of persuasion. Technological advances are wonderful but also very limited, and his point about the significance of trained spotters was warmly appreciated from a man who works in an such an interpersonal profession as ministry. After all, Jesus didn't appear on Doplar radar, he appeared to real life people - with two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth with which to proclaim and testify about him to others.
We watched lots of videos and viewed pictures of what to look for in cloud formations. First and foremost, you're always watching for rotation. Since tornadoes are invisible most of the time, the only way to really tell whether or not a tornado's circular rotation has touched down, is if you can see debris and dust kick up on the ground. Most tornados we see on the news have been active long enough to gather debris - and that is what gives them the murky gray appearance they have. But usually, they start out with a missing middle - the funnel is noticeable out of the wall cloud and the ground debris pops out too, but everything else is unseen.
A few terms that stood out to me of which will definitely make me stand out as someone who knows what they're talking about: 1) RFD - Rear Flank Downdraft. RFD follows a storm and often kicks up dust on the ground but is not in fact, a tornado. Basically they are left-over wind gusts that form in the wake of powerful storms. "Whoa, look Keith - a tornado!" "Actually, that looks more like RFD to me. I better call it in." 2) SCUD - Scud is cloud scraps bundled together, looking rather ominous but posing no real threat. This usually happens when clouds come together close to the ground and begin to appear as funnels - but they are in fact just SCUD. The key way to differentiate is again to look for circular rotation. "That is a huge tornado - look at the size of it!" "Hmmm. I don't see any rotation. Must be a bad case of SCUD going on there. I better call it in." 3) EF-1 - This is the fujita scale for classifying tornados. It was formerly just "F" and was a scale based on wind speeds alone. They are now basing a tornado's strength on both wind speed AND damage caused. So if at any point a tornado inflicts EF-5 damage on an area, then even if the tornado was a EF-1 for the majority of its duration, that tornado goes down in the record books as an EF-5. 4) Multiple Vortex Tornado - This is the worst kind of tornado - it's basically a two-headed monster. This kind of tornado has the capability of splitting or consolidating. Both outcomes would be very, very bad. 5) The Southwest - Standing south and west of a storm is both the safest vantage point and most informative perspective for a trained spotter. Most storm chasers chase twisters from the west and are able to get so close because Tornadoes usually move from the west to the east and north. The exception is when a multiple vortex tornado spawns and splits. In other words, "Multiple Vortex Tornado" = The Tornadic Supervillain. All this talk about tornadoes and I haven't even gotten to "Shelf Clouds" yet! Oh well, you'll just have to attend your own Spotter Training course and find out for yourself.
I hope you have found this informative. I recognize that I have written about all of this with humorous tones and twists (pun intended), but obviously, tornadoes are not exactly a laughing matter. It's really a very serious matter given the recent deaths and horrendous damage inflicted upon the Southern portions of our country. The truth is that I hope I never have to call in about a funnel cloud formation or report on anything resembling a wall cloud or even RFD. But, in the event that I am able to properly identify what is going on, I hope that my preparedness will be helpful in keeping people safe and saving lives.
But hey, I'm not gonna lie... it's still a pretty cool feeling to add "Trained Spotter" to my credentials. So, if you're reading this bro, I did it - now it's your turn!
