Help Greenbrier County citizens by being a weather spotter - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Help Greenbrier County citizens by being a weather spotter

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LEWISBURG -

 

One county that seems to get the worst weather no matter what's being forecasted is Greenbrier County.
     That's why the office of emergency management is asking anyone that has a knack for weather to become a trained weather spotter.
A weather spotter is basically what it sounds like.
A specially trained person that helps the National Weather Service by reporting current conditions.
They're needed because like anyone, the national service isn't perfect.
Deputy Director of Greenbrier County EMS, Paula Brown said, "A lot of the time they'll shoot over us and they'll miss a lot of the storms that are going on at a lower level so this is important to say maybe the radar missed us, this is what's really going on here.
Friday, Feb. 15, they're calling for help in Rainelle.
Brown said, "We clearly have a need in the western Greenbrier area because of the increased amount of storms number one and number two there's no spotters there currently."
This year has been full of severe weather and EMS officials realized they could have used some help.
Brown said, "Hurricane Sandy really is the perfect example I mean all the snow out there they could have been reporting 'hey we have a foot of snow, two feet of snow two and a half feet of snow.'"
There are already have more than 40 weather spotters in the county but the need is on the west end where the weather is always a little more severe.
And the need all over Greenbrier County is apparent to others too.
Debra Johnson said she thinks it's "Very important, so they can look for whatever the weather is going to be, what the roads are going to be like, if we should just stay home not to be on the roads because that causes wrecks."
Brown said, "With the last flooding we had the roadways between Alderson and Hinton were totally closed so different threats to different areas, in general the more we have the better."
The class will be held this coming Friday the 15th at 6 p.m. in Rainelle town hall.
It's free for everyone and will last about two hours long.
To register or ask questions, just email gcema@greenbriercountyema.net.