SD Severe Weather Awareness Week

Severe Weather Awareness Week

South Dakota

Information about various topics on severe weather safety will be presented each day. The list of daily topics for Severe Weather Awareness Week is:

Monday, April 24th - Weather Alerts and Warnings

Tuesday, April 25th - Severe Storms, Lightning, Wind and Hail

Wednesday, April 26th - Tornado Safety Information and Video

Thursday, April 27th - Flash Floods

Friday, April 28th - Extreme Heat

Tornado Watch/Warning Drills

The National Weather Service, South Dakota Emergency Management, and other state, county and local agencies have come together to host Severe Weather Awareness Week activities. On Wednesday, April 26th, simulated tornado watches and warnings will be issued to test the statewide warning and communications systems. The schedule for April 26th is as follows:

(all times CDT)

10:00 AM: The National Weather Service will issue a simulated tornado watch for South Dakota.

10:15 AM: The National Weather Service will issue a simulated tornado warning for South Dakota counties. Note that most cities and counties will activate outdoor warning siren systems.

For the South Dakota warnings, a TOR code (tornado warning) will be used to activate the broadcast on NOAA Weather Radios.

Siren Activation Information

Counties and cities own the sirens, and therefore decide how and when to activate them. The National Weather Service does not sound them.

There are many different policies regarding siren activation that are used by the various cities and counties. Some will activate sirens across the entire county for tornado warnings only. Others will activate sirens countywide for tornado warnings and all severe thunderstorm warnings. Some will activate sirens across the entire county for tornado warnings and severe thunderstorms that have winds of at least 70 or 75 mph. Others will activate sirens only for portions of counties. Local officials may also sound the sirens anytime they believe severe weather is a threat, even if there is no warning from the National Weather Service.

Sirens normally sound for about three minutes, and then go silent. It is very rare to keep the sirens sounding for the entire warning, since that would cause the backup battery to run out, which would be critical in the event that power goes out. Furthermore, the siren motor will fail much more quickly if the siren sounds continuously. Some jurisdictions may repeat siren activation every few minutes.

There is no such thing as an "all-clear" for storms.

Please check with your local public safety officials for details on when warning sirens are sounded in your community.