Tornado Sirens/ Siren Testing (neighborhood, live, trees)

[scioto]

I was wondering how often other cities test their tornado sirens, if they have a siren system at all. I know here in Columbus, they are tested every Wednesday at noon, unless severe weather is forecast for that day. Then they would be tested on the next fair weather day.
I was just curious how often other cities test their own tornado siren systems. So does your city test them weekly, monthly, etc...???

Thanks.....

[rxnasi]

Here in illinois we test first Tuesday of every month at ten

[Raphael07]

We test every Saturday morning at ten.

[Mr. Answers]

Chesterfield, MO gives it a go the first Monday of the month at 10:00. When I first moved to the area I was NOT used to the whole tornado routine and was so freaked out when I heard the siren. It was sunny outside so I was like....uh...it doesn't look like a tornado is coming.

[Toxic Toast]

Indianapolis tests them sometime on Friday, I believe at 11 am or noon. It is a weekly occurance.

Evansville, IN tests them every Friday afternoon at noon.

[2Adam29]

Originally Posted by Go Ne

We test every Saturday morning at ten.

no we dont! it's every first Saturday of the MONTH. I'd go nuts haveing to hear those things on a weekly basis.

[Chicago60614]

They blared the ones in Chicago for only the second time ever on Monday across the entire city. Scared the crap out of everyone. They do neighborhood testing once a month during the spring/summer/fall, but they dont' set off ALL the sirens. They avoid downtown and other high profile/traffic areas since it would probably cause chaos for tourists, visitors who didn't know what was going on.

Monday:

Nine counties all at once under tornado/severe thunderstorm warnings in the metro area
Category 2 hurricane force winds
90,000 lightning strikes in the metro area
800 lightning strokes every MINUTE in the city - half a years worth of lightning in just one storm
3,100 trees down in the city alone
300 stop lights destroyed
Well over 1 million without power
Wrigley Field evacuated in the middle of a game
O'hare and Midway terminals evacuated to the lower areas

It was a pretty awesome storm. It was very surreal to hear the air raid sirens blaring in the heart of downtown as toursits and residents went running every which way. There are a lot of youtube videos of the storm.

Here's an example of what it sounds like in the city when they go off...this is from the only other time they set them off 2 years ago.


YouTube - Tornado Warning High Above Downtown Chicago

and an example from this storm:


YouTube - 70s Night Tornado at Wrigley Field

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Go Ne

We test every Saturday morning at ten.

that would seriously pisss me off as I don't get up till noon or 1pm on the weekends.

[Ohiogirl81]

When I lived in Cincinnati, I often wondered what would happen if there really were a tornado precisely at noon on the first Wednesday of the month?

[st. louie louie]

They're not just for tornado/storm warnings. In St. Louis they were installed during the cold war so in case of a nuclear attack you could go to a shelter or get under your desk.