Jefferson County Homeland Security and Emergency Management has invited the National Weather Service to teach a SKYWARN Storm Spotter Winter Storm course on Tuesday, Nov. 15, from 7-9:30 p.m.

The class will be held at the Independent Fire Company, located at 200 West 2nd Avenue, Ranson, please use the West 3rd Avenue entrance of the building.

This class is free and open to the public.

The SKYWARN courses are designed to educate the public on weather threats in this area, as well as strengthen the ties between the National Weather Service and the local community.

The more spotters the National Weather Service has out there, the faster vital ground truth information gets to the National Weather Service forecasters who make the decisions to issue lifesaving weather warnings.

The Skywarn Winter Storm course provides a more in depth training of winter weather hazards and the role of spotters during these events.

The course is intended for everyone above the age of 14, however the Skywarn Basics I is a prerequisite for this course. The winter storm course includes:

Winter weather hazards in the Mid-Atlantic

Formation and development of winter storms

Winter weather statistics

Winter preparation and safety

NWS winter weather products

The role of Skywarn spotter in winter weather

One must pre-register for the course at https: //jeffersonskywarnwinter.event brite.com.

For anyone who has not already attended the Basic I Skywarn Storm Spotter course, there will be one held in Loudoun County at The Oliver Robert Dube Fire and Rescue Training Academy, located at 16600 Courage Court, Leesburg on Nov. 3 from 7-10 p.m.

Registration for the Basic I course is at https://skywarn basicsloudoun.eventbrite. com.

Questions should be addressed to Brandon Vallee, Public Information Officer, Jefferson County, WV Homeland Security and Emergency Management at 304-724-8914 or bvallee@ jeffersoncountywv.org.