[Skywarn] Skywarn not obsolete

[Lloyd Colston]

>From Tanja Fransen with NOAA:

Hi all,

I just read your posts this morning, and was wondering where the "are
spotters
obsolete?" comment came from.  Then I came across this, and figured that is
what was being referred to:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/06/19/pilger_nebraska_tornado_photo_why_stormchasing_has_become_unethical.html

As the national Skywarn Program co-lead (I represent the field offices to
HQ),
I want to say the answer is no, the program is not obsolete (and I actually
called Eric Holthouse out on this on Facebook).  And while social media is
becoming a great source of reports for us, we also use it to try and
encourage
those who give a lot of good reports and great photos to actually attend a
Skywarn training, and many have.  This year I met at least 2 dozen people
who
have been great about reporting on social media while doing Skywarn.

Dual pol is great, but there are a lot of areas in this country (I live in
one) where there isn't anything for a tornado to pick up and create a big
debris ball signature.  We also have a huge portion of this country that has
radar coverage outside of that 60-80 nm range where dual pol is efficient.

I will state, I've been on Wx-Chase for nearly 23 years now, mostly in lurk
mode (and I LOVE your chase summaries, thank you for them!).  I know who's
been around for a long time and know their reputations. When I see chasers
streaming into MT on a slight or mod risk day, it fills me with dread and
excitement.  Excitement because I hope we get great photos and reports sent
to
us.  Dread, because there are some "yahoos" out there who have some "street
cred??" that have falsely reported tornadoes (on their live streams and to
law
enforcement) in our CWA, while our weather spotters and other chasers
contradicted those reports.

It's a matter of trust.  I know which of my 1200 weather spotters I can
trust.
I also know which ones I am skeptical of because they always are seeing
tornadoes, and yet when I've shown them pictures of scud or inflow, will
argue
with me that it was a tornado anyways. I know which ones will always call,
and
I know which ones I will have to call (it's just weather in MT, no big
deal).

It's harder for WFO's to build trust in the chaser community because it's so
saturated and everyone is so spread out.  Just because a chaser may be well
known in WFO XXX's area 1500 miles away from me, doesn't mean I will
automatically trust a report, without a great description and/or photos or
video to back it up.  Especially if my radar shows no rotation at a close
range.  I've done my best to build good relationships with chasers over the
years and try and contact them when I see them heading this way to provide
our
800#.  I get the passion you all have for watching storms, I really do.  But
when Spotter Network has over 12000 registered users, and 20 of them come
into
my CWA, and only one reports hail or winds even though they all are on the
same storm, (and my own  spotters are reporting it) it makes me question
those
other 19 people and whether they are in it to help or for the glory of the
photo they may or may not cash in on.  This is a complaint a lot of rural
WFO's have.  All those chasers showing up on Spotter Network, yet not one
reports through the app or calls them to share the photos and reports.

So, I hope you continue to report to the WFO's when you get a tornado, hail
or
wind, even after the fact is helpful.  (Including mine in Glasgow, MT if you
get this far north!).

Feel free to contact me anytime about the spotter program, but I promise,
it's
NOT obsolete, and we need you all!

Tanja Fransen