Weather spotters are needed for the county and an upcoming class is available to those who want to help protect the community.

The Covington County Emergency Management Agency has teamed up with the National Weather Service from Mobile to hold a severe weather storm spotter class next month.

“Weather spotters are very important to our office,” said EMA Director Susan Harris. “Spotters are used year round and report all weather information to our office.”

Severe weather storm spotters are a vital link in the timely and accurate flow of weather information into and out of weather forecast offices, she said.

“Storm spotters not only serve the community, but they provide important information to the EMA office,” Harris said. “We relay this information to warning forecasters in Mobile who make critical warning decisions. These forecaster have weather radars which play an instrumental role in predicting and reporting weather patterns but the information from a spotter with ground-truth information is critical. Fast and accurate information is vital, which helps us perform our primary mission to save lives and property.”

wwThe local NWS forecast office conducts the training.

The event will be held Aug. 6, from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m., at the Commission Chambers.

For more info, call 428-2670.