Mike Krzywonski
I was told that some counties in the Plains will sound the sirens for a storm that is severe warned w/o it being tornado warned. Does anyone have info. about this?
Ben Holcomb
EF5
Here in Lansing, MI, they will sound the sirens for straight line winds in excess of 75 mph.
Anthony Silver
EF4
Here in the KC area, Lee's Summit, Clay County, and a few other municipalities on the north side have recently changed their siren activation policies following the events of May 2, 2008 (when the damaging bow echo with embedded tornadoes caused significant damage in Gladstone & Liberty). No TOR's were issued during that event.
http://www.kmbc.com/news/16181864/detail.html
http://www.kmbc.com/news/16181864/detail.html
Gerard Jebaily
EF2
I have heard from a reliable source that Scurry Cty, Texas will sound sirens if Baseball size hail + is probable with an approaching storm.
Jeff Rector
I am the EM Director for the City of Frederick in Oklahoma. Our policy is that we will warn on storms that have shown signs of rotating without producing a tornado. I try not to warn on straight line wind events, because the majority of the citizens in Frederick are the elderly and I don't want them caught out in the wind trying to get to the shelter.
rdale
EF5
Don't most storms in Oklahoma have signs of rotation? And more have straight-line winds than tornadoes - so I'm not sure I understand your policy...
Terrence Cook
EF2
Here in Indiana and i'm sure elsewhere. If you have a tornado watch and you get a severe thunderstorm warning, they set off the sirens. Happened a couple weeks ago when we had a nice straighline wind event.
rdale
EF5
Just to clarify - that's not an Indiana policy, just your spot... Most EM's are hopefully a little more weather-savvy than that.
Danny Neal
EF5
I know the city of Cincinnati (Hamilton County) is the same way and have heard some Plains/Midwest(I don't remember exactly which so I am not going to guess) counties as well that do this. I guess it is the whole CYA of severe thunderstorms can/do produce tornadoes logic?
rdale
EF5
No, it's just CYA. Cry wolf as often as you want - as long as no tree comes down on a house without the siren having sounded in advance. It's from EM's who have no idea or desire to learn simple weather basics, at the expense of protecting their citizens from truely hazardous storms.
Jayson Prentice
EF5
To my knowledge, around here (northwest Iowa) the sirens have only went off for true tornado warnings. The only occasion I can think of otherwise was actually just across the border in Minnesota a few years back when we had some extreme damaging winds (90+ mph measured previously). We have a pretty good EM core around here to my knowledge, met quite a few of them and they seem to know what they are doing. 
I think you'll find it varies from county-to-county, or even city-to-city, but overall I feel that unless you have true knowledge that they will be some intense winds (80+ mph?) then those sirens should only be going off for tornado warnings. Down on campus at Iowa State, they have now installed large PA-type system that they can blow the siren once and they announce what is occurring. This seems to sound like a very good idea, as any storm approaching will likely effect students that are outside, whether it be tornado warned or severe warned for large hail or winds.
I think you'll find it varies from county-to-county, or even city-to-city, but overall I feel that unless you have true knowledge that they will be some intense winds (80+ mph?) then those sirens should only be going off for tornado warnings. Down on campus at Iowa State, they have now installed large PA-type system that they can blow the siren once and they announce what is occurring. This seems to sound like a very good idea, as any storm approaching will likely effect students that are outside, whether it be tornado warned or severe warned for large hail or winds.
Tyler_Costantini
EF2
they will sound the sirens in SE KS / SW MO if they expect 100mph or higher winds.
I have never seen that happen in 26years in the area..
I have never seen that happen in 26years in the area..
Matthew Crowther
EF3
In Cobb County, GA they blow the sirens for severe T-Storm warnings in a tornado watch.
Chad Cowan
EF5
I know that this isn't the first time this topic has been brought up and I'm sure my question/concern has been addressed in previous threads but doesn't blowing the sirens for non-tornado events have a negative impact on the population's response to an actual tornado? This seems dangerous especially for the people that don't turn on the TV to see what type of warning it is. Does the siren noise differ from SVR to TOR warnings?
rdale
EF5
If they are being sounded for ACTUAL severe weather - i.e. major winds, extreme hail, etc. then there's no negative impact. If they are being sounded for 3/4" hail because it happens in a TOR watch area - then it's ridiculous. And harmful to the overall goals...
No.
