SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Iowa Media Wire) — Representatives from the National Weather Service (NWS) in Sioux Falls were in Sioux City Monday for “Severe Weather Awareness” training.
The event was held on the campus of Western Iowa Tech Community College. The training taught people how to stay safe from severe weather and to ask people to volunteer as “storm spotters”. According to the NWS, spotters can be more important than radar.
“There’s nothing better than a pair of ears and eyes on the ground from an actual human being observing what’s going on and passing that back on to us so we can use that in the warning,” Peter Rogers with the NWS in Sioux Falls said. “You know, if you have a tornado warning for radar indicator rotation versus a tornado warning for confirmed tornado from a spotter, that plays a bigger role in the minds of people to say ‘hey, we need to take this seriously and seek shelter right away.'”
Rogers also said that anyone can be a spotter and that spotters are always in need.
The next “Severe Weather Training” in Sioux City will be in February 2025.