Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Mike Moritz, National Weather Service Meteorologist, from the Hastings, Nebraska office, was present for a Weather, Safety, Spotter training meeting on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at the Fort Hays Tech | North Central Kansas Technical College campus, Severance Student Union Conference room in Beloit. Moritz has been in the Hastings weather office for 30 years.
Mitchell County Emergency Manager, David Dohe, in Beloit, introduced Moritz before the start of the program.
Moritz began asking those attending to spread the word in looking for a weather observer from the Hunter location. This could include reporting temperature and precipitation. If interested, they can contact Mike Reed at michael.reed@noaa.gov or call 402-469-6778 or the NWS office at 402-462-2127, ext. 327.
Topics of five things you should now about storms included:
1– Is it a tornado – Is it on the ground? ( a violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and a parent cloud, usually a cumulonimbus cloud.) Debris cloud = Tornado.
“Any report is good, but the more information provided about tornadoes, the better,” said Moritz.
2– Making a good report. To include the time of the event, 5 or 15 minutes ago? Tell us when something ends. Location of the event, damage or impacts, who/what agency made the report, and if necessary, what direction is the event moving? Good reporting can also include hail size, was there any damage, and hail isn’t necessarily something the NWS needs “spotters for”.
3. Radar Rotation may not be a Tornado. Don’t assume radar rotation is always a tornado, because most of the time, it is not a tornado. Rotation could be up high off the ground, and in over 10,000 cases it is. Rotation may be very short lived, and may not even be rotation.
4. Reporting Wind Speeds.
Most wind speed reports come from automated airport weather stations, home weather stations, handheld wind measuring devices, or a general estimate of wind by looking outside. But sometimes people overestimate the wind speed in general. A total of 58 mph is minimum wind speed (or gust) for a Severe Thunderstorm Warning.
Reports are asked to include the time of event, location, speed and damage, and duration. It is windy a lot in this area, but people struggle with wind speed estimation. A 65+ mph wind gusts can make branches snap, blow over semi-trucks, fences and various things. A 75+ mph wind can cause structural damage to buildings, uproot trees and cause grain bin damage. An 85+ mph wind can cause major structural damage to roofs, tin buildings, and cause widespread center pivot and power pole loss.
5. No report is worth your life or injury.
Safety should be the number one priority, when reported a storm. Always stay a few miles from the storm and know the risks included.
Forecast information and sources can include the National Weather Service, private weather sources, local and national media, social media, friends and family. All can help in reporting storms.
Doppler Radar is a great tool as well, but has its limits. They at times cannot see the lower portion of a storm.
Moritz continued in showing different types of tornados.
A Supercell tornado, a landspout tornado, a Quasi Linear Convective System (QLCS).
Understanding a severe thunderstorm outlook category, helps make reporting accurate. This can save lives, when they need to be warned to take cover. A Storm Prediction Center (SPC) helps show an outlook, most days during Spring/Early Summer, and helps alert counties on tornado watches, and to cancel or locally extend a watch when needed.
“Your reports matter,” Moritz said. “People will take action based upon quality reports from trusted sources, including Spotters, Law Enforcement, National Weather Service, and Local Media. Don’t assume the NWS knows the weather. We depend on all of you.
As most of Kansas is in an extreme fire season, Moritz also talked about Red Flag Warnings, when the relative humidity is 20 percent or less, with wind speeds of 20-25 mph or higher, and favorable fuels present. The NWS office also watches for “hotspots” on satellite when Red Flag Days occur. If you sight something, be sure to contact your fire chiefs or emergency managers, as quickly as possible.
