NORWICH – The Norwich Emergency Management Office, in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service in Binghamton, is gearing up for a special course in weather spotting.

The free SKYWARN (weather spotters) course will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, at the Norwich Fire Department. This class is open to anyone but tailored for those who have participated in the basic SKYWARN class for beginners and have an interest in learning more.

The SKYWARN program is a national program that provides real-time severe weather reports to the National Weather Service.

“There has been interest from a lot of people to have an advanced class,” said Norwich Emergency Management Officer A. Jones. The class, he added, draws interest from people all over the community. “This program is something that has been around for a number of years. There's usually a good attendance from the general public and amateur radio operators.”

The upcoming Norwich class will train volunteers on how to report severe weather to the National Weather Service. More specifically, Jones said it will train people on what to report and what not to report and how to tell the difference between severe and standard weather conditions.