-Information courtesy The National Weather Service – Raleigh

The 2019 North Carolina Severe Weather Preparedness Week runs from Sunday, March 3 through Saturday, March 9, 2019.    With the peak of North Carolina’s severe weather season right around the corner, NOW is the time to prepare! 

There are a lot of great resources that you can use to prepare for the severe weather season.  Please take a moment to visit the NWS Raleigh Severe Weather Preparedness Week web site at https://www.weather.gov/rah/2019ncswpw where you’ll find links to our daily severe weather topics and useful severe weather preparedness tips and information.   

In addition to making a severe weather safety plan, we strongly encourage everyone to participate in the Statewide Tornado Drill, which will occur on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.  Every school, business, workplace, and family across the state is strongly encouraged to participate in this drill. It is important that all schools and businesses are aware of the following important points about the tornado drill:

• The drill will be broadcast on NOAA Weather Radio and the Emergency Alert System via the Required Monthly Test (RMT).  There will not be an actual Tornado Warning issued.
• Many NOAA Weather Radio receivers (including the older Midland WR-100 radios that many schools have) do not sound an audible alert for the RMT product; instead, they may have a blinking light on the display to indicate that an RMT was received.  As such, when the RMT for the statewide tornado drill is initiated at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, there is a chance that your NOAA Weather Radio will not sound an alarm.
• Since your NOAA Weather Radio may not sound an alarm at the time the RMT is issued, you will want to do one of the following:
  • Manually turn on your NOAA Weather Radio receiver and simply listen to the audio broadcast to hear when the RMT is issued, which will mark the beginning of the statewide tornado drill.
  • Simply plan to start your tornado drill on your own at 9:30 a.m.
• There will be no follow-up statements issued by the NWS to mark the end of the statewide tornado drill. It will simply be over when your group, school, business, or organization feels that you have adequately practiced your tornado shelter procedures.
• If there is actual severe weather occurring on the morning of March 6, 2019, the statewide tornado drill will be postponed.  The alternate date for the drill is Friday, March 8, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.
• This drill and RMT will take the place of the usual weekly NOAA Weather Radio Alert test (RWT).  That is, there will not be a weekly radio test done between 11 a.m. and noon on that day.

Please share this information and encourage all of your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, and especially all schools, to take the opportunity next Wednesday to participate in the drill, and to take a few moments to learn more about severe weather preparedness.