Severe weather affects many Americans, and part of the government’s effort to keep residents informed of such conditions is through the use of trained weather spotters who observe and report severe weather to the proper authorities.

The National Weather Service established SKYWARN to help provide an early warning system in advance of severe weather. The volunteer SKYWARN program has nearly 290,000 trained severe weather spotters who help keep their local communities safe. When bad weather hits, they provide timely and accurate reports of severe weather to local officials.

In a release, the Kane County Office of Emergency Management said it sponsors an annual countywide severe weather spotters training class put on by the National Weather Service. This year’s class is scheduled at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, at Elgin Community College’s Seigle Auditorium.

This event is free for all weather enthusiasts. Seating is available on a first-come, first-seated basis.