WOODSTOCK – It’s a stormy summer day in early August of next year. The National Weather Service issues a warning as a severe thunderstorm tears into McHenry County.

While forecasters list Woodstock among the towns in the storm’s path, they are unaware that the McHenry County Fair is in full swing. But county emergency officials are well aware and send out a tailor-made warning of their own. Television and weather radio messages alert residents, and fairgoers’ cellphones let them know to take cover.

McHenry County is getting approval to participate in the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, which would allow the county Emergency Management Agency to write and send county- and city-specific warnings, Director David Christensen said.