Tornado Drill 1000 AM March 1!

Attention TV station, radio station, and cable TV engineers;

The National Weather Service offices serving Illinois will issue test Tornado Warnings Tuesday March 1 at 1000 AM CST, as part of Illinois Severe Weather Preparedness Week. The warnings will be disseminated like actual tornado warnings through NOAA Weather Radio, with the EAS event code TOR. The warnings will also be distributed through Illinois State Police communications, Emergency Managers Weather Information Network, EMnet and other sources.

The text of the warnings will clearly state that these are test messages, however, for automated systems that just read the coded data at the top of the warning, they will appear to be actual tornado warnings.

The purpose of conducting a tornado drill with an actual warning is to make sure that warnings can be issued and disseminated properly, and that emergency officials and media outlets can receive the warning. It is also a good way to make sure your NOAA Weather Radio is working properly – at home, at your place of business, or at your school. Everyone in Illinois is encouraged to take this opportunity to review severe weather procedures and conduct a tornado drill.