Storm Spotter training keeps residents safe

The National Weather Service of Marquette is conducting a series of Storm Spotter training in many counties in the Upper Peninsula.

Speaking at Michigan Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Complex in Houghton, Meteorologist Matt Zika said local residents play a significant role in the weather warning process and keeping people safe.

“A lot of people assume that the Weather Service, with all our fancy tools and everything that we have there, that we  know what’s going on everywhere all the time but that couldn’t be farther from the truth,” Zika said.  “And so it’s the folks that come out to these presentations, like they’re out here tonight, that we rely on to feed information to us at the National Weather Service to know what’s going on.”

Storm spotters are needed in all areas of the country, but they play a larger role in the U.P.

“Here in Upper Michigan with the ruralness and sparse population, it’s almost more important for us to go out and talk to folks in some of these smaller communities so we can get that information from places where there’s not a whole lot of people living,” said Zika.