Watching out for the Spring severe weather at 12th Operational Weather Flight

Maj. Chris Higgins, 12th Operational Weather Flight, 932nd Airlift Wing, looks at information from the Storm Prediction Center with his main focus being convective activity and severe thunderstorms. The Air Force has always been the backup agency for the Storm Prediction Center (SPC). It was on May 1, 2009 that the mission came to the 15th Operational Weather Squadron. The SPC handed off support to Airmen like Maj. Higgins on 26 March and even though SPC has a lot of other weather speciality products they produce, the ones that 12 OWF are in charge of are the convective outlooks days and weather watches. SPC is located in Norman, Oklahoma, so if they ever have to shelter for a tornado the Storm Prediction Center backup team is called in to take over. Maj. Higgins spent time on the phones with weather managers in various states during the event. (U.S. Air Force photo/Maj. Stan Paregien)