FORT WORTH -- The National Weather Service regularly offers Skywarn classes throughout North Texas to recruit volunteers for its weather monitoring program, but the course can be taken online as well. Skywarn is a nationwide volunteer program with 290,000 trained severe weather spotters. The volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service, according to the organization's website. The next scheduled class in the Cedar Creek Lake area is in Van Zandt County at the Sheriff's Department in Canton, Monday, Feb. 25, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. It is a free program, and advance registration is not necessary. There will be another one in Henderson County at the Malakoff Senior Citizens Center Tuesday, March 19, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and also one in Navarro County in Corsicana at the Palace Theater Thursday, March 21, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Participants will be taught the basics of thunderstorm development, fundamentals of storm structure, identifying potential severe weather such as hail and flooding, how to report the information and basic severe weather safety. Visit: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/skywarn/ for information about local classes and the Internet course.