Statewide Tornado Drill- April 15th, 2021

Posted on 4-08-2021

Wisconsin is recognizing Severe Weather Awareness Week April 12th-16th .  The tornado sirens will be sounding at 1:45pm and 6:45pm on Thursday, April 15th, instead of Wednesday, April 14th, during the normal noon test.  The sounding of the sirens is for citizens of Brown County to have the opportunity to partake in the two Statewide Tornado Drills on Thursday, April 15th.

Since 2012, the statewide drill has included an Emergency Alert System (EAS) live code test, triggered by the National Weather Service and relayed to NOAA Weather Radios and Wisconsin broadcast television and radio stations.

At 1:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., anyone near a device set up to receive those alerts would see or hear a message advising them of the drill. Many communities also participate by sounding their outdoor warning sirens during the drill times.

However, due to concerns about the technical limitations of the drill, a decision has been made by Wisconsin Emergency Management, the National Weather Service, the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, and Wisconsin Emergency Alert Systems (EAS) Committee to permanently discontinue the EAS live code test portion of the drill.

Other aspects of the drill, including associated public messaging safety campaigns encouraging people to practice their plans during the 1:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. time slots, will proceed as planned on April 15th, 2021.

The intent of these tests is to ensure these systems are working and to give the public experience with what happens when an alert is triggered. Any error has the potential to reduce public confidence in those alerting systems.