Morrison Co. SKYWARN Spotters and Spotter Wannabe’s:
TWO TRAINING SESSIONS FOR THE 2022 SEASON:
(1) In-person spotter training 2-4pm Sunday, March 6 at St. Mary’s Church in Upsala.
(2) Spotter training via ZOOM 6-8pm Friday, March 11.
The Nat’l Weather Service requires SKYWARN spotters to renew their training every 2 years and recommends annual renewal.
In mid-November the NWS in Chanhassen received approval to conduct in-person spotter training for the 2022 season. Depending on Covid-19 status, that approval may be rescinded. In that case, we will switch to ZOOM for remote training, still 2-4pm on March 6. A second training session via ZOOM is scheduled for 6-8pm Friday, March 11. The Zoom link(s) will be distributed via email. Watch for updates via emails and the Morrison Co. Record.
COVID statement:
Consistent with St. Mary’s Church requirements, wearing masks is required. Also consistent with Church requirements, as presenter, I am excused from mask-wearing. As an extra precaution, I will conduct an at-home test 2 days prior to the in-person training event and then self-quarantine. St. Mary’s dining hall will easily accommodate social distancing.
FYI: Morrison Co. Skywarn places a high priority on spotter safety. Attached is a chart I’ve been updating daily from May 2020 to present, showing the number of daily new COVID cases for MN and Morrison & surrounding counties. It does not include at-home test positives.
Also attached is a map to St. Mary’s Church in Upsala.
Pre-registration form is at the end of this email.
Peace Officers:
This course is approved for 2 credits for continuing education. This includes licensed deputies, city officers, DNR officers, state patrol, and retired officers that are maintaining their license.
Pre-Registration:
In Person Training March 6: No pre-registration required for veteran Morrison Co. Spotters but RSVPs via a reply to this email are appreciated. For new spotters to Morrison Co. please fill in the pre-registration form below and reply to this email or send an email to morrisoncoskywarn@yahoo.com to request pre-registration material.
ZOOM Training March 11 (and possibly March 6): Veteran Morrison Co. Spotters – please RSVP via a reply to this email. For new spotters to Morrison Co. please fill in the pre-registration form below and reply to this email or send an email to morrisoncoskywarn@yahoo.com to request pre-registration material.
ZOOM Session Numbers and Passcodes: these will be sent via email to RSVP-ers a day before the training session. If you have not already installed ZOOM software, please take a moment (5-10 minutes) before the session to do so after you receive the session #. A video camera on your computer is not necessary.
Hams: For amateur radio mobile spotters, net operations will utilize the Little Falls repeater, 147.135 MHz tone 123. Note this is a change from previous years. The Avon repeater, 147.105 tone 85.4 will be the backup repeater.
Morrison Co. needs more Skywarn Spotters, especially mobile ham operators.