Dan: Sirens shouldn't be depended on

Do not rely on outdoor storm sirens to warn you of a tornado. You cannot depend on hearing the warnings or count on the sirens to work when they are needed. These outdoor sirens were designed for those outside.

Today, with super insulated homes with triple pane glass, the chance for you to hear a siren is much less than it once was. With urban sprawl it becomes increasingly impossible to build enough outdoor sirens for everyone to hear these warnings.

There was a story out of Woodward that 20 of the town’s sirens did not work that night because of a lightning strike. Lightning. We will never know if this contributed to the 6 lives that were lost that terrible night.

Today you have so many ways to stay up with warnings. Purchase a weather radio. They will cost you between $25 and $35 dollars. After that, you can receive official warnings from the National Weather Service. There is no monthly fee to play to a television station. The data is free. You can program a single county for warnings or multiple counties for information. This is very helpful incase you live near a county line. If I lived in Mannford, for example, I would program in Pawnee and Creek. Tulsa area Mays Drug and Drug Warehouse have a promotion going on with KJRH where you can purchase a Midland Weather Radio at a lower cost.

You can download a weather app by going to the Apple store and searching: KJRH weather app. Here you can control the radar viewing area. You can zoom into your hometown or anywhere in the country to see where the storms are located.

Another way you can receive warnings is by signing up for free weather alerts by going back to our KJRH homepage or by selecting this link:
http://contests.kjrh.com/engine/Registration.aspx?contestid=%2017884

And of course television. When severe weather is expected we activate our storm chasers, we bring in extra meteorologists, and we closely monitor the changing conditions. We don’t hype the storm or try to scare people. We take what we do very serious. If there are storms coming we tell you. If we have warnings we will pass those along to you.

There is no reason for you to not know about upcoming severe weather. Stay informed and you can stay alive.