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.

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.

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.

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.