LEARNING CURVE

Perhaps this article’s headline raised an eyebrow or two. After all, it’s May and flowers are blooming, trees are budding, and green landscapes are returning. However, as I compose this month’s article, it is still winter in central Illinois. My shack’s weather station is indicating an outside temperature of 18° F and snow is on the ground.

I mention this because “cabin fever” is in full swing, and May and warmer weather still seem far away. Although warmer months often bring on severe weather events, don’t for a minute be lulled into a false sense of complacency when it’s cold outside. In the Midwest, winter can spawn tornadic events under the “right” meteorological conditions. That’s why it’s so important to always be on guard and prepared to support your Skywarn© (Figure 1) program, no matter what season.

SKYWARN^®

According to Wikipedia, “SKYWARN is a program administered by the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) (Figure 2). Its mission is to collect reports of localized severe weather that are passed on to forecasters so they can issue and verify severe weather watches and warnings. A side mission is to improve the forecasting and warning processes and the tools used to collect meteorological data. Reports are also used by local emergency managers and public safety officials <>.”