A NOAA weather radio or your cell phone is much better than a tornado siren.
Keeping your family safe during severe weather means keeping yourself informed. Every second counts when it comes to access security!
The National Weather Service provides, on average, a thirteen-minute lead time before a tornado strikes. But sometimes, the warning may arrive just minutes before a tornado strikes.
Despite popular tradition, tornado sirens should not be your primary way of receiving warnings.
While some areas, such as York County, South Carolina, continue to operate sirens, not all municipalities use them. And those who do, may have their own rules and regulations.
🌩️ If you love weather, watch Brad Panovich and the WCNC Charlotte Weather team on the Emmy Award-winning Weather IQ YouTube channel. 🎥
Even in 2011, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned against relying on sirens, saying in the wake of the hurricane outbreak:
“Many people expected to hear sirens for a potential tornado even in areas where there were no sirens.Existing.”
Alternatively, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radio can be used to alert you of severe weather – even in the middle of the night.
Much like a smoke detector, a weather radio sounds an alarm to wake you up and alert you to impending danger.
The NWS uses old radio signals to power a network of transmitters across the country. The system is resilient against power and internet outages.
These same alerts will also appear on broadcast media – including here on WCNC Charlotte where they will scroll across the bottom of your screen and appear as push notifications on our app.
To get the latest weather alerts, download the WCNC Charlotte mobile app and enable push notifications.
If you are broadcasting severe weather coverage – it is also important to remember that there may be a delay.
This makes multiple options more important for your safety and creates life-saving redundancy. And when storms threaten, you can stay updated on the weather with us live and online.
WCNC Charlotte's Weather IQ YouTube channel provides step-by-step explanations from WCNC Charlotte meteorologists to help you learn and understand weather, climate, and science. See previous stories where you can raise your weather I.Q YouTube playlist below And subscribe to get updated when new videos are uploaded.
