Boy Scouts Prepare for Bad Weather

SILVER SPRING, Md. — -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration invited 50 Boy Scouts from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area on Friday to attend a daylong course in weather safety that would not only teach them how to protect themselves in severe weather situations but also help them earn a weather merit badge.

The pilot program had been in the planning for nearly two months. But, after last week's Iowa tornado killed four Boy Scouts and injured 40 others at a Scout camp, the organizers were concerned.

Susan Buchanan, the NOAA staffer planning the course told the participants, "Saddened by those tragic events, we huddled as a group and had to figure out how to proceed. We decided the best way to honor the Boys Scouts in Iowa is to continue with our day of fun and learning." The participants did observe a moment of silence for their fellow scouts.

The Boy Scouts met with National Weather Service meteorologists and spent the day in small work groups learning how to recognize severe weather — reading weather maps, learning safety procedures and how to protect themselves when storms approach.

As they walked into the Weather Safety class, even before they could sit down, the instructor pointed to a large funnel cloud on the large screen and said, "Do you know what that is? What should we do?"

Everyone promptly agreed that they were looking at a tornado and had to get out of the windowed classroom to make their way to an enclosed stairway and go to the basement. To make the exercise real, they left the room and sought shelter.

Will Shaffer, Scout master and head of the NOAA Evaluation branch, who was teaching the class, said, "We may emphasize tornadoes a lit bit more now, but there are other aspects of weather they need to be aware of [such as] winter storms, flash floods."

The boys ranged in age, from 11 to 16, and were asked to pick out misconceptions about dealing with weather. The instructors got their attention when they showed actual tornado video of cars being tossed around like cardboard boxes. "Do you think it would be a good idea to take shelter in a car during a tornado?" their teacher asked. "No, no way!" they responded.