I know I'm not alone when I say I'm fascinated by the weather. Especially all the seasons that we go through here in the Hudson Valley.

When people think of the east coast and up north, at least when it comes to weather, they think of beautiful foliage and terrible winter storms. They would be right, but there's so much more to us than that.

We have some of the hottest and muggiest weather during the summertime and we actually do get a number of tornados and hurricane-like wind forces that blow through our neck of the woods.

Who could forget that awful tornado that touched down in Dutchess County back in May of 2018?

If the weather across New York State blows your mind and gets you running to the nearest window to watch a storm, then you should look into Skywarn. 

Skywarn is a volunteer storm spotter program. It was established by NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) as part of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) to "obtain critical weather information" according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service explains:

 Storm spotters play a critical role because they can see things that radar and other technological tools cannot, and this ground truth is critical in helping the NWS perform our primary mission, to save lives and property.

If you're interested in being a Storm Spotter for the NWS in Albany, classes being on March 31 and run through May 17.

Find out where you can sign up at the Skywarn website. 

 

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