The annual “Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week” in Wisconsin takes place next week. This provides for the perfect opportunity to think about what you will do when threatened by severe weather this spring and summer. On Thursday, April 24^th, the National Weather Service will issue a mock Tornado Watch and Warning. I’d strongly encourage those of you in charge of safety at businesses and schools to use this time to run a tornado drill.

The mock Tornado Watch will be issued for all of Wisconsin at 1:00PM. At 1:20PM, the mock Tornado Warning will be issued for southern Wisconsin . The Warning will remain in effect until 1:25PM and the Watch will expire at 2:00PM. I firmly believe that taking the time to practice your plan now will prove very valuable when running it for real in the future.

It’s important to note that the tone-alert may not sound for the mock Watch and Warning on some new models of NOAA Weather Radios. This is because some manufacturers have disabled the tone-alert feature for mock Watches and Warnings, as well as weekly tests. This was in response to customer complaints about not wanting to be alerted for tests. If you have this type of radio, you will need to have the Weather Service audio turned on in order to hear exactly when the mock Watch and Warning are issued.