# Tornado sirens **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 23, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916 "2011-05-23T17:25:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/41 "2011-05-24T17:00:19Z")
There is some evidence, according to what I’ve been researching, that the increased frequency of tornado alarms going off every time there is even the threat of rotation of a wall cloud is leading to a “boy who cried wolf” syndrome in folks. The long advance notice may be counterproductive in some cases, where sirens go off 30 minutes or more ahead of a tornado, but after 15 minutes folks come back out of the basement to see what the hell is going on. Nonetheless, tornado deaths overall are decreasing so the system overall ought to be helping. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/42 "2011-05-24T17:21:57Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > According to a news article I read this morning, the two most common issues reported in Joplin were: > > 1. Inability to hear the sirens. In some areas, the wind, rain, and thunder were loud enough to virtually drown out the emergency siren sound. > 2. ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’. The sirens have already sounded several times this season, and some people apparently decided not to bother seeking shelter this time. > [Edit]Found the article: [Tornado warnings’ effectiveness questioned after deadly twister](http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/23/missouri.tornado.warning/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29) on [CNN.com](http://CNN.com). Good find! The more I dig into this, the less I like the current mishmash. Those wanting to improve things need to reflect on Joplin where there were warning, many people did hear the sirens, and we still had over 100 killed. I view it as a very serious matter that many ignored the sirens going off once again. The childrens’ story about the boy that cried wolf teaches a very good lesson about people. Going back a ways: > [@Viscera](#): > > Speaking as a meteorologist, NWS warnings are now polygons (and have been for a few years), they do not officially include entire counties. Many TV stations (and possibly emergency management) still go by the “county” and disseminate warnings that way, for whatever reason. Ideally, sirens would only sound for tornado warnings, for locations actually in the polygon, which has it’s own “buffer.” > > Unfortunately, the sirens are not controlled by the NWS, they are controlled by the local government/fire/police or emergency management, and the requirements to blow the sirens can vary drastically from place to place (as we can see in this thread). I think the EM people need to take a more realistic view of the population they are trying to protect and limit the counter productive false alarms. In the event of a tornado, you do need to take refuge in the most secure place available. Isn’t being inside mostly good enough for violent thunderstorms? As I pointed out in an earlier post, most people will go inside when any storm is coming. So why are we training them to ignore sirens by sounding them when they are likely to take proper precautions without them? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/43 "2011-05-24T17:40:14Z")
So, a few recurring themes here: 1. Some people don’t take a tornado siren seriously, for a variety of reasons, possibly including overuse of the sirens by local authorities. 2. Depending upon the siren, and the siren alone, to warn you of a tornado may not be a great idea. A [NOAA weather alert radio](http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=noaa+weather+alert+radio&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=3145588421&ref=pd_sl_5ff5fkotir_b) may be a wise investment. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/44 "2011-05-24T17:58:40Z")
Somewhat off-topic, but you can also set up text-message alerts from the National Weather Service for your zip code. It gets sort of annoying during spring when there are constant flood warnings around here, but I like getting the severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings that way. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/45 "2011-05-24T19:15:13Z")
NOAA radios? I was given one once. Do we lack the technology to clean up the crackly, almost unintelligible broadcasts? Is this a marketing thing making it more dramatic? The thing never let out a peep before the 2 times we were snowed in that winter. Come spring, it woke me up in the middle of the night with the vital message that a county 50 miles away was subject to a possible flash flood. It went in the next garage sale. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/46 "2011-05-24T19:29:02Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > NOAA radios? I was given one once. Do we lack the technology to clean up the crackly, almost unintelligible broadcasts? Is this a marketing thing making it more dramatic? Maybe they’ve improved. I don’t have any trouble understanding mine, but I do get a chuckle from some of the pronunciations. The emphasis is always on the wrong syllable, but hey, it’s a machine. 🙂 > [@](#): > > The thing never let out a peep before the 2 times we were snowed in that winter. Come spring, it woke me up in the middle of the night with the vital message that a county 50 miles away was subject to a possible flash flood. It went in the next garage sale. Mine’s never done that. Maybe the programming capability has improved as well. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/47 "2011-05-24T21:04:31Z")
I’m in Stillwater, OK. I believe the sirens here only go off when need be - actual warning to the town. Our predictions are good. I’m watching Channel 9 ([http://www.news9.com/](http://www.news9.com/) is streaming him) for my forecasts. With Gary England, who seriously knows his shit when it comes to tornadoes. Right now the storm is to the west of OKC, but they have a wedge tornado on the ground and have ETAs for it on various places, they have it fixed to a mile marker along I-40 atm, with storm tracker cameras on it. This kind of thing is why the 1999 F5 in Edmond was destructive, but not nearly as fatal as the recent storms: just well prepared for them. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/48 "2011-05-25T17:43:18Z")
Gee, didn’t expect to be able to add my own anecdote this soon … I was at a rehearsal of my barbershop chorus last night when the alert sirens went off here in Arlington, TX. We all adjourned to an interior hallway, but didn’t stay there more than seven or eight minutes. :rolleyes: Even though the sirens were still sounding, the rain had slackened and the bulk of the group decided that the danger had probably passed. A few of us hung around in that hallway until the all-clear was sounded (along with all of the wives who were just there to listen). I’d like to think we were the smart ones rather than the timid ones. 🙂 Considering that, while the chorus was resuming rehearsing in a large exterior room with big plate-glass windows, authorities were evacuating Rangers Ballpark about a mile and a half away, I feel there’s some evidence behind that assessment. People really don’t like to disrupt their planned activities unless they can actually see a funnel cloud, I guess … ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/49 "2011-05-25T18:21:10Z")
I prefer to listen to the tornado spotters on the civil defense radio bands directly. You can hear direct, on-the-scene reports continuously of where the tornado is and where it’s heading. In the old days of the 1990’s when I did scanning as a hobby, I was stunned over all the times that I would hear a spotter yell words to the effect of “gawdamightyjesus it just touched down!” and it would take nearly 2 to 3 more minutes for the sirens to go off. Nowadays the sirens go off long before it touches down, if it does so at all. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/50 "2011-05-25T18:24:36Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Nowadays the sirens go off long before it touches down, if it does so at all. I suspect that’s a function of many tornado warnings now being issued based on the NWS analyzing Doppler radar returns, and noting echoes which are consistent with the possible formation of a tornado (versus the old days, in which a warning wouldn’t be issued until there was an actual eyewitness report of a tornado). ---
**Author:** ![NCntrlIN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/dc4da7/32.png) [@NCntrlIN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NCntrlIN)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/51 "2011-05-26T05:42:39Z")
I am from Kokomo Indiana , where I currently reside. We were Tornado warned twice today with no sirens. Called the local PD , was told to call EMS. EMS stated there were no city owned sirens in Kokomo. A city of 46000 and only one privately owned siren at Haynes International , an Alloy plant that makes aircraft and aerospace materials. The only initial purpose of their siren was for an industrial accident. They sounded their sirens 20 minutes after the second warnimg on their own doing , not because of EMA. Luckily the Tornado spotted SW of us had dissipated and did not hit our area. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/52 "2011-05-26T15:14:04Z")
**NCntrlIN** , sirens are expensive and a city the size of Kokomo would need several. The next town over has a population of 8,000 and their one siren isn’t heard over the whole town. My little town (a mile square, pop. 168) is paying about $15K for the one we’re getting. That’s $13K for the siren and about $2K for the pole. It would cost more if we didn’t already have a generator. There are grants available for stuff like sirens, through FEMA and Homeland Security. Maybe write or call your mayor and suggest they look into it. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916/53 "2011-05-26T16:51:36Z")
Of course, there has been little posted to answer my question of how much good sirens do. Events have proven that excessive use of them lessens their effectiveness. I have learned quite a bit from this thread. I do like the idea that sirens only sound in the polygons where there is an NWS tornado warning. Next question. How long do the sirens last? What are the odds a tornado will hit Kokomo in the lifetime of the sirens? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornado-sirens/582916.md?page=2)