Welcome to Porter County Storm Intercept Team PCSIT! Are you interested in joining our team?
About us and our mission:
Porter County Storm Intercept Team PCSIT is a local weather team that covers NW Indiana Region. PCSIT is a team that provides weather alerts and live severe weather coverage, forecast information, and active spotters reporting out in field giving you posts and/or live weather reports.
Our Mission is to help save life and property by reporting severe weather criteria by via: phone, Spotter network, Facebook, or Twitter(x), to National Weather Service (NWS) to help get the warnings out quicker to alert the public as well as to keep the community informed and aware of weather events happening in the area by reporting weather and road conditions via by posting and live streaming the events, as you can stay up-to-date with live reports. We also provide reports of weather damage by ground and by air (drone footage) to assist with National Weather Service and damage surveys. We also help keep the community updated on the latest forecast information to help prepare the community ahead of time before weather hits the area.
Expectations & Qualifications:
-We want to make sure everyone gets the proper training they need for their position. Based on the team member position, will determine what training they need. All trainings that are marked as required in our training module, must be done with a timely manor of 2 months or if you are a Floater, you would have 3 months time to complete the trainings. Yes, you may get additional time if needed, but you must communicate with a PCSIT Leadership Team Member to get additional time. This does not include the 14 day trial period.
-All members within the team must be at least 18 years of age to join our team.
-During active events across NW Indiana, we will work on attending some events. Like for this year, it would be the popcorn fest in Valparaiso, Indiana, that we will be attending. We also have our own meet and greet we do yearly which usually happens in the summer time.
-In regards to participation, it is based on your position within the team, it is based on the PCSIT Monthly meetings, this will also include your trainings, and it is based on a team effort in being able to help others.
-In regards to communications, we have a discord server we communicate on and we have a few zello channels we communicate on which is mostly used for our members when reporting out in field and radar tech use. Communications are basic with some professionalism as we use some 10 codes. We also use unit numbers. This makes the communications much easier. Communications is key!
-We do have meetings once a month all online. We have it because it helps with goals, helps with going over questions or concerns, going over events or meet and greet, discuss the last out in field experience, going over guidance and learnings, safety, changes made, etc.
Monthly Meetings:
Our monthly meeting is held on the last Saturday of each month. Though our meetings are not mandatory and you do not have to attend, we do highly recommend you attend online and if you can't make the meeting, our recommendation is having your zello app on busy mode for you to be able to go back and listen to it later. There may be important information provided you might miss out on or any changes that might be made, or additional information that may be provided.
Leadership Team:
Leadership team is members helps you achieve goals, provide the training and guidance you need to be successful within your role, works in a team effort to provide support and information, does coachings and feedback with members, etc.
Positions:
Storm Spotter- You are out in field reporting weather conditions happening in the area. You are reporting to keep the community updated and informed on weather events happening in the area non-severe and/or severe criteria and in an event of a Severe criteria, not only you are reporting it to the public but also reporting it to NWS to help get the warnings out quicker to alert the public. You also have the capability to report weather damage. As a Spotter, you can also go mobile and track the storm especially if there's rotation.
Radar Tech- As a radar tech, you are helping to keep track of the storms and rotation along with providing information back to the Storm Spotter who you will track while they are active out in field. You are assisting active members out in field providing what you're seeing on radar like rotation, hail, winds, track of the storm, debris ball, squall line, hook or supercell structure, etc. You can also help them with escape routes. In addition to being a radar tech, you can also post alerts or go live and do live severe weather coverage keeping the public updated on radar and alerts being put out.
Dispatcher- as a Dispatcher, you are checking PCSIT members in/out of service, can announce activation statuses, have control of Communications happening in the zello channel, and make PCSIT announcements.
Website Publisher- A blogger who can write stories, post/share photos and videos, shares PCSIT reports, post events, post disaster response information, one who can be creative in publishing, PCSIT News, forecasting, post a current or past live streaming event, etc. You will be able to share your posts from the website to the PCSIT platforms/Social Media.
PCSIT Disaster Response Team- Assist in damage reports and helps with NWS surveys.
Rather by car, foot, or drone footage by air, the Disaster Response Team goes out in field to report Storm damage and helps National Weather Service out with surveys in a straight line wind event or tornado event. Also helps with a hail event and floods.
These are members who has access to closed off zones or nearby closed zones to assist weather damage. Non-closed zones must be treated the same way as if it was closed off.
Qualifications:
-Must be at least 18 years old
-Free training is provided with FEMA Courses 100, 200, 700, and 800
-drones are recommended
Safety measures:
- FEMA paperwork completion must be provided to access closed off zones
- steel toe shoes (required)
- reflective safety vest (required)
- watch your surroundings (always)
- a helmet (recommended)
- construction safety gloves (recommended)
-flashlight high beam (required at night)
- vehicle with a 360 view of amber white lights (required)
-Non-closed zones must be treated the same way as if it was closed off.
Recruiter- You are doing soft interviews via text or by call. During the interview process, you are going over the role and application provided that the member submitted. You can answer any questions that the member may have during the interview. Once the interview is complete and you welcome the member to the team, you will then provide the onboarding process which is the following, adding the member onto our messenger chat, getting the member set up on zello and add him/her to the PCSIT channel, making sure they get added onto the PCSIT page, and depending their position, you are to outline or provide the member with the proper training.
Forecaster (Non-meteorology position)- You are providing your own forecast information. You will be able to provide posts or live feeds of forecast information such as graphics, imagery information, text forecast, Outlooks, etc. Yes, you may provide information from SPC, WPC, and NWS, however, we are looking for more of creating your own forecasts for this position, rather than just providing information from those sources listed above.
Simulcast- You are broadcasting alerts across NW Indiana region on our PCSIT Simulcast channel on zello. This will include watches, warnings advisories, and meso discussions. We cover both severe and winter weather.
Floater- As a Floater, you are doing multiple positions rather than just one position. So if you are wanting to do multiple positions, this would be the position you choose.
Recruiting and Onboarding:
We have members that helps with recruiting members onto the team. These members will do a soft interview call going over your volunteer application form. Once you complete the application form, a recruiter will contact you for a soft interview. Once the interview has been completed and you are approved on to the team, we will then begin your onboarding process which is getting you onto our discord, getting you added to the page, and adding you to our zello channels.
Training:
We provide free training to you! It's opened for everyone to use except the members in the 14 day trial period. Depending your position, determines what training will be provided to you. However, even outside of your position, if you are wanting to take additional training, it's all provided in one location with all access training views. There's also webinars or in person NWS classes that will also be provided which is also free.
Counties we cover:
Lake, Porter, La Porte, Newton, Jasper, Starke, Pulaski, Benton, White