Originally posted in 2024.
As I constantly harp, by far your best bet for home and office use is a weather radio. I have two Midland WR120’s, one in the house and one in the office; they are only around $35-$50 and can be programmed to only go off if your county is alerted. There are lots of other brands and types, including portables, that are also good. Many HAM radios also have a weather frequency monitor.
I don’t like sirens as a primary warning system for a lot of reasons. They had a purpose at one time but at this point with all the communications technology I think they are becoming a waste of money except in some limited circumstances, like the beach or major parks, and even there hearing them is sometimes hit or miss depending on winds. Generally sirens are more timely than phone alerts or apps (but again not nearly as timely or reliable as a weather radio, which is directly controlled by the people issuing the warnings, the National Weather Service). Another thing to remember is that at least in Chatham County, the sirens only sound for tornadoes, not severe thunderstorms, so you can have severe, even dangerously damaging weather with no siren at all.
Phone alerts and apps are at best a backup for weather radios because there are lots of potential delays in the message, often a couple of minutes or more between when your local NWS office sends out the alert and when your phone or app gets it. And in a tornado every second counts. As noted in the graphic, sirens are not controlled by the National Weather Service, and here in Savannah there are often delays between the radio alert and the siren (and even missing alerts!). For those of you with Alexa, she’s terrible – I’ve had warnings come in *hours* after the warning had already expired!
In other weather and NWS news, if you’re in the Atlanta area, the Peachtree City NWSFO is holding a “STEM Day” coming up March 9th. And many offices, including the Charleston office that provides forecasts for Savannah, are accepting applications from college students for summer programs. Most of these are volunteer (not paid), but are a great way to get experience and learn how NOAA and the Weather Service work, which can lead to internships and maybe a career down the road.
Finally, a couple more siren and tornado memes …
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