A National Weather Service Storm Spotter Training, hosted by Adair & Guthrie County Emergency Management, will take place tonight in Menlo.

Coordinator Bob Kempf says the training’s most crucial purpose is to educate first responders, but everybody is welcome to attend the free event. “First and foremost, we provide it for our first responders such as law enforcement, fire departments and EMS that might be out storm spotting. It is also a good class for the public. We have several members of the public in both counties including HAM radio operators, farmers and other people that are just interested in weather that are also trained spotters. By going through the curriculum, you can also become a registered storm spotter.”

Guthrie County Sheriff Marty Arganbright says members of his staff use their storm spotter training whenever severe weather threatens the county. “Most of my deputies have attended the storm spotter class many times. When there is a severe storm or a tornado warning, we’re good at working with the fire departments at being on call and knowing what we can look for.”

Tonight’s training takes place from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the Menlo Community Building. Kempf will tell us more about it today on Let’s Talk Guthrie County. It airs during the 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. hours on K107.9 and www.raccoonvalleyradio.com.