CREEDE, COLO., (April 20, 2015) — Weather spotter training is upcoming since post-fire forest conditions and areas downstream from a burn area can be prone to flash flooding and debris flows.   Tom Magnuson from the National Weather Service will provide weather spotter training in the afternoon of May 4th in Creede at 5 p.m. and May 5th at 6 p.m. in Alamosa.  Volunteers are asked to pre-register for the training here: http://www.weather.gov/pub/spotterTalks

The three counties of Mineral, Hinsdale, and Rio Grande – along with the Office of Emergency Management and RWEACT – are working to improve communications in the Upper Rio Grande through improved communication infrastructure, increased monitoring of conditions for early warning, a system for notification, and a volunteer cadre of “eyes on the ground.”

For more information on the training, please call Dave Osborn at 719-587-5213.

RWEACT (Rio Grande Watershed Emergency Action Coordination Team) -- together with the Rio Grande National Forest -- brings together local, state and federal partners as a collective to address fire-caused natural hazards and impacts on human life, property, community economies, and the health of the Rio Grande Watershed following the West Fork and Papoose Fires.  More information can be found at www.rweact.org