Anyone interested in the weather is invited to attend a SKYWARN spotter training class at Pearl River County’s Emergency Operations Center next month.

The class will show residents how to look for the features indicative of severe weather, teach them the basics of thunderstorm development, what information should be reported to the EOC during and after a storm and basic severe weather safety.

Shawn Wise, deputy director of Pearl River County Office of Emergency Services, said that local residents who have received this training are essential to updating the local EOC office and the National Weather Service about what goes on during a severe storm. That information allows local emergency response agencies to respond to storm damage faster and provides the National Weather Service with crucial information that they can tie in with the radar readings they collected during the storm.

The class will be held on Feb. 28, at the EOC, located at 810 Highway 11 S., Poplarville at 6 p.m. The class is expected to last about two hours.

Interested parties are asked to register by sending an email to swise@pearlrivercounty.net.

Wise said the class may also be of interest to junior high or high school students who have an interest in the weather.