Is anyone else frustrated with the whole weather siren situation!  Today I saw a watch come on my tv and it was not even in my area I went out to get dinner for my family and all of a sudden the sirens were going crazy.  I had no idea what it meant.  Here I am in my car and all I can see are dark clouds.  I have no idea if there was a tornado touchdown, a severe thunderstorm coming, a thunderstorm warning.  I ended up cutting my trip short and making it home just to find out we got nothing but there were tornado warnings in other area's.  I think the siren system produces panic.  There should def be two totally different siren sounds one for a warning and one for a thunderstorm.  Anyone else agree?!

bombshell:

Is anyone else frustrated with the whole weather siren situation!  Today I saw a watch come on my tv and it was not even in my area I went out to get dinner for my family and all of a sudden the sirens were going crazy.  I had no idea what it meant.  Here I am in my car and all I can see are dark clouds.  I have no idea if there was a tornado touchdown, a severe thunderstorm coming, a thunderstorm warning.  I ended up cutting my trip short and making it home just to find out we got nothing but there were tornado warnings in other area's.  I think the siren system produces panic.  There should def be two totally different siren sounds one for a warning and one for a thunderstorm.  Anyone else agree?!

Not sure where you live, but I agree the system is messed up.  Here in Butler county, we'll be blown away by a tornado before they turn on the sirens.  Last night the news said they were "blaring all over Clermont, Warren and Butler Counties"....to which I said "Uhhh - no they aren't", because there wasn't a peep out of the one just 500 feet up the street from me until AFTER they announced a hook echo in Southeast Butler county headed toward Mason and Loveland.  Then it only sounded for about 3 minutes.  A while later I was nailed by a strong storm and the siren was silent the entire time!

Frustrating indeed.

I used to live in butler county and when I lived there we only got a siren if there was an actual tornado to touch down but even then I never really would be able to hear a siren if the situation would arise.  We mostly relied on our weather radio.  Now I live in Hamilton County and I think we get a siren if there is a servere thunderstorm and a chance or a tornado.  But what if there is a tornado warning.  Or what if I am traveling say to dayton or columbus and there comes a terrible storm I will not know if I hear a siren what it means for that county.  There honestly should be a universal siren and they should be 2 totally different sounds.  This could be a safety issue.  I wonder who I contact. 

I have to agree, here in Warren county is seems like all we deal with is an actual tornado warning before we hear the sirens.  Thankfully being a firefighter, I can hear what is going on in the county and where.  But there should definitely be a standarized system statewide or even country wide.

Joe

So to add to this story, I arrived at work today and I get these emails when severe weather is in my county.  Well it appears that there WAS a tornado warning for hamilton county my county and I had no idea.  Hamilton County is pretty big so I was safe for the most part, but I seriously had no idea.  Talked to co workers today and they all said they had no idea and none of them took shelter because they thought the sirens just meant a thunderstorm. 

It seems to me while sirens no doubt provide a great public service to the community, many are antiquated and the system may be long overdo for an overhaul.  It also seems the general public needs a little more education as to the difference between watches and warnings and when does one such warning warrant the sounding of the sirens. Personally, I don't understand all the confusion...seems pretty straightforward to me regarding weather alerts.  I would have to sum up by stating that people should use common sense and decide what's best for their personal safety and not be so dependent on a far-off weather siren to make your decision for you.

That is very well stated and I agree, you should use common sense when it comes to the weather turning bad.  But, if they are going to use a weather alert system with the sirens, we need to make sure:

First off, the sirens even work
Second, you know how the sirens work in your county for the watches/warnings

In regards to the specific counties, they need to just man up and use a statewide system as I stated above in a previous post.  As we know, what is common sense to one does not mean it's common sense to all.

Joe