Severe weather exercise planned for Wednesday

An annual event that signals the start of the summer weather season in North Dakota should sound Wednesday.

The simulated statewide tornado exercise is scheduled for between 11:15 and 11:20 a.m. and will include the sounding of sirens all over North Dakota, including Stutsman County.

“We do a regular monthly test on the first Wednesday of each month, but that is a 15-second blast,” said Jerry Bergquist, Stutsman County emergency manager. “This is to make sure they work for the full 3 minutes.”

The sirens are sounded for 3 minutes whenever a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning is issued during the summer. People are urged to check their local radio or television stations for more details when they hear the siren.

The entire system, from the broadcasting of the simulated warning by the National Weather Service to the notification of local radio and TV stations, will be tested along with the sirens. It is not only the state’s effort to make sure that everything works, but to remind the public that the season for severe thunderstorms and tornados is approaching.

In fact, this whole week has been dedicated to making people aware of weather-related risks.

“Severe Weather Awareness week kicked off with lightning and thunder on Monday,” Bergquist said. “If we have the threat of severe weather on Wednesday, when the test is scheduled, we would postpone it. We’d have to reschedule it so we make sure those sirens will work the entire three minutes.”

Tags: stutsman, county, weather, forecast, sirens, tornado, severe