I am now a card-carrying Junior Weather spotter with my secret decoder ring and special phone number.
Actually, this is a very serious deal. Perfect example was last Friday, October 18 when an EF-1 tornado touched down in Shelton, WA. Because weather conditions are different here than in "tornado alley", weather radar does not show the classic hook echo formation that indicates active tornadoes and it was not until a Shelton resident took a video on her cellphone and sent it to Seattle station KIRO that the National Weather Service knew about it.
Camano Island is located in an active convergence zone. That produces some intense but very localized weather and the more eyes to the skies, the better climate models the NWS is able to make and the more timely watches and warnings they can issue.
A fun get together too as about half of the people there were from various Island and County emergency management groups or radio amateurs. Getting to know a lot of people here and the level of professionalism is wonderful.
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