Statewide Tornado Drill Today at 10:07am

John Bobel

March 1, 2022

As part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, a Statewide Tornado Safety Drill will be conducted at 10:07 am EST, Wednesday, March 2. Lexington Emergency Management will participate in this drill.

During the drill, the National Weather Service (NWS), in partnership with Kentucky Emergency Management (KYEM), the Kentucky Weather Preparedness Committee (KWPC), and Kentucky Broadcasters Association, will issue a test tornado message that will activate weather alert radios. All Kentuckians are encouraged to practice their tornado safety actions at home, school, or work. In addition, Lexington Emergency Management will activate its network of outdoor warning sirens and Alertus beacons. Many television and radio stations may interrupt programming to cover the tornado drill.

In Fayette County, Lexington Emergency Management will test the actual tornado warning sirens at 10:07 am. The sirens will sound a tornado wail for three minutes as part of the test followed by a public address (PA). Please do not call 9-1-1 during the test.

This year, alerts will not activate the Emergency Alert System (EAS), or cable overrides and test messages will not activate Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). In addition, if inclement weather is forecast for March 2, the Statewide Tornado Drill will be postponed to Thursday, March 3, or canceled.

“Whether it’s the April 3, 1974, Super Outbreak, the West Liberty and Salyersville March 2, 2012, long track tornadoes, or the Dec 10-11 2021 Quad State Tornadoes, Kentuckians must be weather prepared. Please have a plan of what you would do for your family when warnings are issued, whether you are at home, at a youth sporting event, or the grocery store. Make sure you have multiple ways of receiving life-saving warnings from your local NWS office,” said John Gordon, Meteorologist-in-Charge at the National Weather Service in Louisville, KY.