Northwest Iowa — This is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Iowa. Each day this week the National Weather Service is focusing on a different severe weather topic.
The topic today is weather warnings, and how they are received. The National Weather Service says that one of the most important precautions you can take to protect yourself and your family from severe weather is to remain weather aware. Being weather aware means you are informed of the weather forecast and alert to the potential hazards.
They tell us that a watch means that the environment is capable of producing a storm that could include the type of weather talked about in the watch and you should stay aware. A warning means the actual event is happening or a storm exists that’s capable producing that type of weather and it’s time to take action to get to your place of safety.
Knowing what to do and where to go when watches and warnings are issued is key to your safety, but a watch or warning is only helpful if you are aware of them, say weather officials.
Meteorologist Kyle Weisser with the Sioux Falls office of the National Weather Service tells us about ways to receive weather warnings.
For the big ones, like tornado warnings, many communities have outdoor warning sirens to let people outdoors know about severe weather. And that leads us into tomorrow’s severe weather topic — the statewide tornado drill, when many communities will be testing those sirens, weather permitting. They do say that if there’s any chance for confusion with actual weather, they may move the test to Thursday or Friday.
The test tornado watch will be issued at 10 a.m. (probably tomorrow) and shortly thereafter, a test tornado warning will be issued, and just like the real thing, the sirens will sound as a test to make sure everything is working properly.
For more information, click here for the National Weather Service’s Warning Reception Brochure.
