How to Read the Sky: Key Lessons to help you read the weather:
Renee Crick, Emergency Operations Director for Clinton County Central Dispatch and EMA Director, recently hosted a National Weather Service (NWS) Storm Spotter Training at the Frankfort Police Department. Senior Meteorologist Jason T. Puma from the NWS Indianapolis office led the session, equipping local residents, first responders, and broadcasters with practical tools to recognize severe weather and report it safely and effectively.
This is a detailed report of the weather spotter meeting. It will take some time to master details given at the meeting. The best advice is to log on to weather.gov/ind and explore. This article will provide a front door to the site and outline some of its many features. This site and information for Jason Puma, Senior Meteorologist at the meeting, will better enable spotters and area families to predict the future and perhaps save lives.
Key Point: Most people hearing about severe weather don’t really believe it or take action until they see or hear about actual events or destruction taking place, according to Puma. This fact of human nature increases the value of observers as they empower the National Weather Service with accurate information reported to them in real time.
Why Trained Spotters Matter
Modern Doppler radar can see storms in the atmosphere, but it cannot see exactly what is happening at ground level—what meteorologists call the “ground truth.” When spotters report what they are actually seeing and experiencing, it helps NWS forecasters:
• Confirm that storms are producing damaging winds, large hail, tornadoes, or flooding.
• Add specific, local details (for example, “three‑inch hail in Frankfort near the high school”) to warnings.
• Improve future warnings by verifying which storms really caused damage.
Research shows that many people do not act immediately when they first receive a warning; they often wait until they get visual confirmation or hear the threat described in very local terms. Credible reports from trained spotters—and the photos, locations, and details they provide—can push people to take shelter faster and save lives.
The NWS Mission and Local Coverage
The National Weather Service’s mission is to protect life and property and support the national economy by providing forecasts, warnings, and decision support for hazardous weather. Its vision is a “Weather‑Ready Nation,” where communities are prepared for, respond to, and recover from hazardous events such as tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, floods, and winter storms.
Across the United States, 122 local NWS forecast offices each cover a specific region. Central Indiana, including Clinton County, is served by the NWS Indianapolis office. Northern Indiana is covered by the Northern Indiana office; southern Indiana by Louisville; the far northwest by Chicago; the southwest by Paducah, Kentucky; and the southeast by Wilmington, Ohio.
Your Main Online Hub: weather.gov/ind
Puma strongly encouraged everyone to become familiar with the local office website: weather.gov/ind. From that single page, users can:
• Click directly on a map for a detailed local forecast and any active watches, warnings, or advisories.
• Access the Decision Support page, designed for event planners (fairs, festivals, ball games, community events) who need a quick view of potential weather hazards during an event window.
• Reach specialized products such as Hazardous Weather Outlooks, forecast discussions, and graphical “weather stories.”
Printed handouts at the class included QR codes linking to many of the graphics and web pages Puma demonstrated, making it easy for attendees to revisit the material later.
Safety First: Spot, Don’t Chase
NWS policy is clear: spotting should never become storm chasing. Puma emphasized that:
• Severe weather spotting can be dangerous; personal safety is more important than any report.
• The NWS does not condone, endorse, or recommend chasing storms.
• The majority of useful reports come from people observing and reporting from their homes or usual workplaces, not from people trying to get close to storms.
Spotters should always know in advance where they will shelter and should avoid putting themselves in harm’s way just to see or photograph a storm.
The Severe Weather “Ready – Set – Go” Cycle
Puma framed the warning process as a three‑stage cycle:
1. Outlook – “Ready” (Days Ahead)
Be aware of days that might have severe weather. This is when Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and Weather Prediction Center (WPC) outlooks are most useful.
2. Watch – “Set” (Hours Ahead)
Conditions are favorable and the ingredients are in place. Thunderstorms or flooding may develop in the next several hours across a broad area.
3. Warning – “Go” (Minutes Ahead)
Severe weather is happening or imminent in your specific area. This is the time to act on your safety plan and take shelter.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma issues national convective outlooks several days in advance. These outlines show the risk for severe thunderstorms (damaging winds, large hail, tornadoes) and use five numbered categories:
When you see Moderate or High risk shaded in red or purple over Indiana, the message is simple: treat the day very seriously, review your plans, and help spread the word.
Puma illustrated how SPC (Storm Prediction Center) outlooks evolve with time, using the March 31, 2023 outbreak that produced a devastating EF2 tornado in Sullivan, Indiana.
Early outlooks showed only broad risk areas several days out; as confidence grew, SPC tightened the focus and eventually introduced a High Risk over parts of the region the day of the event. That tornado destroyed many homes and killed two people in a manufactured home that was thrown a great distance—an example of why manufactured housing is especially vulnerable.
Excessive Rainfall and Flooding Outlooks
While the SPC focuses on severe thunderstorms, the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) issues Excessive Rainfall Outlooks for heavy rain and flash flood threats. Categories—Marginal, Slight, Moderate, and High—parallel the SPC system:
• Marginal: Isolated flash flooding possible, often localized to vulnerable spots.
• Slight: Scattered flash floods; some urban areas, streams, or roads can flood.
• Moderate/High: Numerous or widespread flash floods expected; lives and property in greater danger.
Puma showed a WPC example where a Moderate risk over Wisconsin and eastern Iowa corresponded with major flash flooding and dramatic photos of submerged roads and stranded vehicles.
Local “Weather Story” Graphics
Back on the Indianapolis office website, Puma highlighted the Weather Story box on the main page. This graphic, prepared by local forecasters, gives a quick narrative of what to expect over the next few days along with any severe weather or flooding risks.
For example, leading up to Thursday’s potential storms, the weather story showed:
• Warming temperatures from mid‑week into Thursday.
• A highlighted window Thursday evening and night when severe thunderstorms were possible.
• A localized version of the SPC outlook describing the main threats (damaging winds and large hail, with less tornado concern in this particular case).
Hazardous Weather Outlook (HWO) and Forecast Discussions
Two text products on weather.gov/ind are especially helpful for spotters:
1. Hazardous Weather Outlook (HWO)
• Summarizes expected hazards for today and the next several days.
• Becomes more specific as an event approaches, often including expected timing windows (for example, “best chance between 6 PM and 10 PM”).
• Includes a line directed at spotters—“Spotter activation is (or is not) anticipated”—so you know whether the NWS expects to rely on reports that day.
2. Area Forecast Discussion (AFD)
• Written by NWS meteorologists to explain why the forecast looks the way it does.
• Includes technical language (wind shear, fronts, instability, QLCS, isentropic lift), but also provides a mesoscale section during active events that highlights which areas are most favorable for development or where storms are weakening.
Watches: “Ingredients Are There”
On the day of an event, once forecasters see that severe weather is becoming more likely, the Storm Prediction Center issues watches that cover broad multi‑county or multi‑state regions and typically last 6–8 hours.
Types of Watches
• Severe Thunderstorm Watch
Primary hazards: damaging wind gusts and large hail.
Additional hazards: flash flooding; occasionally isolated tornadoes.
• Tornado Watch
Primary hazard: tornadoes.
Additional hazards: damaging winds, large hail, and heavy rain.
A tornado watch means the atmosphere contains all the ingredients needed to produce tornadoes, even if one is not currently occurring.
• Flood Watch
Can be issued for rivers, streams, or areas prone to rapid runoff. Signals the potential for water over roads and life‑threatening rises in water.
Warnings: “Take Action Now”
When dangerous weather is happening or imminent for a specific area, the NWS issues a warning. Warnings are smaller in geographic size than watches—often roughly county‑scale polygons—and typically last 30–40 minutes as the storm passes.
Official Definitions
• Severe Thunderstorm Warning
Issued when a storm is producing:
• Wind gusts of 58 mph or greater, and/or
• Hail one inch in diameter or larger (quarter size or bigger).
• Tornado Warning
Issued when:
• A tornado is observed and confirmed, or
• Radar strongly indicates rotation capable of producing a tornado.
Puma noted that, in practice, he wants at least two of three elements before issuing a warning: a favorable environment, a strong radar signature, and/or a confirmed spotter or law‑enforcement report.
• Flash Flood Warning
Issued when rapid, life‑threatening flooding is occurring or expected very soon. Six inches or more of water flowing over roadways, or fast‑moving water over roads, fits this category.
Radar, Polygon Warnings, and Apps
Apps, TV graphics, and many websites use radar and warning data pulled directly from the National Weather Service. Private companies may adjust the look and colors, but the core data—reflectivity, velocity, and polygon warnings—comes from NWS.
• Warning Polygons:
• Yellow typically indicates Severe Thunderstorm Warnings.
• Red indicates Tornado Warnings.
• Purple polygons signal particularly dangerous situations (PDS) with high confidence of major tornado threat.
• Single‑Cell “Pulse” Storms:
On hot summer days, isolated thunderstorms can briefly intensify and produce 60 mph winds or large hail without widespread severe weather. In these cases, SPC may choose not to issue a watch, but NWS may still issue warnings for individual storms that exceed severe criteria.
Wireless Emergency Alerts and Multiple Ways to Get Warnings
Puma repeatedly stressed the need for multiple ways to receive warnings, because any single method can fail:
• Local radio and television (including Clinton County’s stations via the Emergency Alert System). WILO radio at 96.9 FM, 1570 AM and Boone 102.7 FM can be a source of this infromation.
• NOAA Weather Radio, especially important overnight when people are asleep. Units are widely available and can automatically sound when warnings are issued for your area.
• Cell phones with Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) turned on.
• Local apps and alert services backed by NWS data.
How WEA (Wireless Emergency Alerts) works:
• For Tornado Warnings, any phone inside the warning polygon will receive an alert.
• For Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, WEA is reserved for the most dangerous storms—those tagged as producing 80 mph winds or 2.75‑inch hail or larger.
• For Flash Flood Warnings, only significant or devastating flood situations will trigger WEA.
Because WEA is location‑based, your phone may sound an alert as you drive into a warned area even if the warning was issued for a neighboring county.
Having and Practicing a Personal Safety Plan
When a warning is issued, it is too late to start thinking from scratch about where you will go. Puma advised households, schools, and workplaces to decide in advance:
• Best shelter location:
• A basement, if available.
• If no basement, the lowest floor, most interior room, away from windows, putting as many walls as possible between you and the outside—hallways, bathrooms, or closets often work.
• Cleared space:
Storage closets (such as under stairs) often fill up with seasonal items and boxes. As part of your “watch” phase, make sure there is enough room for everyone to shelter safely.
• Practice:
Just as schools run fire drills, brief severe weather drills help ensure everyone knows where to go and can move there quickly.
Role of Local Spotters and Media
The training reinforced that Clinton County spotters, dispatchers, first responders, and broadcasters are an integral part of the warning system. When they:
• Monitor outlooks, watches, and warnings from weather.gov/ind and SPC/WPC.
• Safely observe storms from protected locations.
• Relay specific, timely reports (location, time, type of damage, hail size, flooding depth).
…they help NWS forecasters improve warnings and they help neighbors take severe weather seriously. Radio stations like WILO and platforms such as Clinton County Daily News amplify that information to the community in real time.
WILO is prepared to put on air Police, Fire, EMA, Commissioners, Sheriff, Trained Spotters to keep you informed.