Weather Sirens

Click Sound Icon to Hear Weather Siren....

Eau Claire County has...

27 outdoor weather warning sirens:
- 19 sirens in the City of Eau Claire
- 4 sirens in City of Altoona
- 1 siren in City of Augusta
- 2 sirens in Village of Fall Creek.

The sirens are activated primarily in two types of instances: monthly testing, and when a severe weather warning has been issued for any portion of Eau Claire County.

Testing

The Eau Claire Emergency Center is responsible for conducting the monthly testing of the weather sirens. The sounding of the sirens for the monthly test is scheduled for the first Monday of the month at 11:02 A.M. The test is conducted during the months of April through October. Basically, this ensures all the sirens are operating correctly. If you do not believe your siren sounded properly or will not turn off, please call 715-839-4972 to have it corrected.

Eau Claire County Siren Warning Policy

When the siren sounds, it means a dangerous storm is approaching with hail larger than one inch in size and/or winds greater than 58 miles per hour and conditions are favorable for tornadoes. Sirens will also sound if a tornado warning is issued, but tornadoes can occur without time for a tornado warning. Activation of sirens on the severe thunderstorm warning allows time:

for people to locate children to insure they are in a safe place before the storm hits.
for people in mobile homes to find shelter
for people in boats on a lake to get into shore.

Outdoor Warning System

These sirens are an outdoor warning system. They are intended to alert people "outdoors" to severe weather conditions. The sirens are not intended to alert people that are inside a structure. A weather alert radio can be a useful tool for that purpose. Families can purchase a weather alert radio as an additional resource for emergency preparedness.

The outdoor sounding sirens are your cue to listen to your local radio and/or television for information concerning severe weather in the area. You must make an informed decision on your safety and the safety of your family and take immediate action. DO NOT call 9-1-1 to ask for weather information. Report dangerous weather conditions to the Eau Claire Emergency Center.

When The Sirens Sound

Turn to your radio, television or weather alert radio for more information.

Determine the area affected and the time frame involved.

Take shelter as appropriate. Know in advance where the “shelter” is located.

Weather Warning

The National Weather Service now issues severe weather warnings on a “storm based” warning system. This enables the Eau Claire Emergency center to alert only those communities that are in the path of the storm rather than the entire county. Sirens are sounded only for severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings indicating that severe weather is imminent.

The National Weather Service

The National Weather Service has changed their method of predicting the path of a storm. Instead of issuing a warning for the entire county, warnings are now based on the expected path of the storm. This storm-based warning method allows the sirens to be sounded in a more community-specific manner. We are now able to avoid warning non-threatened portions of the county and instead can focus on a more geographically specific area for each warning.

We cannot stop the storm damage in most cases, but we can move people into safer areas to protect lives. Timely warning gives opportunity for people to make decisions about what they will do to avoid injuries from severe storms.

Additional Information

Weather Sirens

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