Storm spotting and public awareness since the first tornado forecasts of 1948

The history of storm spotting and public awareness of the tornado threat is reviewed. It is shown that a downward trend in fatalities apparently began after the famous "Tri-State" tornado of 1925. Storm spotting's history beg ins in World War II as an effort to protect the nation's military installat ions, but became a public service with the resumption of public tornado for ecasting. pioneered in 1948 by the Air Forse's Fawbush and Miller and begun in the public sector in 1952. The current spt,spotter program. known gener ally as SKYWARN, is a civilian-based volunteer organization. Responsibility for spotter training has rested with the national forecasting services (or iginally, the Weather Bureau and now the National Weather Service). That tr aining has evolved with (a) the proliferation of widespread film and (recen tly) video footage of severe storms; (b) growth in the scientific knowledge about tornadoes and tornadic storms, as well as a better understanding of how tornadoes produce damage; and (c) the inception and growth of scientifi c and hobbyist storm chasing. The concept of an integrated warning System is presented in detail, and con sidered in light of past and present accomplishments and what needs to be d one in the future to maintain the downward trend in fatalities. As the inte grated warning system has evolved over its history, it has become clear tha t volunteer spotters and the public forecasting, services need to be closel y tied. Further, public information dissemination is a major factor in an i ntegrated warning service; warnings and forecasts that do not reach the use rs and produce appropriate responses are nor very valuable, even if they ar e accurate and timely. The history of the integration has; been somewhat ch eckered, but compelling evidence of the overall efficacy of the watch-warni ng program can be found in the maintenance of the downward trend in annual fatalities that began in 1925.