Hello everyone. Just as we are trying to convince ourselves that it is okay to put the snow shovel away, it is time to remind everyone of the next type of severe weather that faces us, thunderstorms. While thunderstorms themselves pose little danger to us, the weather conditions that often accompany them are. These conditions are lightning, hail, high winds, tornados, and flooding. And while lightning, tornados, and floods are the most dangerous to human life, high winds and hail are often the most costly to structures and crops. In any of these events, we need to be prepared and understand what to do; to reduce the fear, anxiety, and losses.

The State of South Dakota and the National Weather Service has declared April 22 – 26, 2019 as Severe Weather Awareness Week. These agencies along with the American Red Cross have developed a Severe Weather Preparedness Guide which has many safety and preparedness suggestions. Some of features of this document are what to put in your emergency supply kit, what to do in the event of severe weather threats and disasters, emergency planning, contact numbers, and NOAA radios. A copy of this guide can be attained on the Charles Mix County Emergency Management Facebook Page or at https://dps.sd.gov/download_file/view/1992/320.

As in previous years the focus of the Severe Weather Awareness Week is on tornados. Occasionally, tornadoes develop so rapidly that little, if any, advance warning is possible. Some tornadoes are clearly visible, while rain or nearby low-hanging clouds obscure others. Before a tornado hits, the wind may die down and the air may become very still. A cloud of debris can mark the location of a tornado even if a funnel is not visible.Tornadoesgenerally occur near the trailing edge of a thunderstorm. It is not uncommon to see clear, sunlit skies behind a tornado. Some other tornado facts are the average forward speed of a tornado is 30 MPH, but may vary from stationary to 70 MPH. Peak tornado season in South Dakota is late spring through early summer, and are most likely to occur between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., but can occur at any time; much like the Delmont Tornado of 2015 occurred at approximately 1045am.

If you are under a tornado WARNING, seek shelter immediately! The safest place to be during a tornado is underground. Once there, try to find something sturdy you can crawl under. Getting underneath a work bench or heavy table will protect you from flying debris and/or a collapsed roof. If you have no basement or cellar, go to a small room (a bathroom or closet) on the lowest level of the structure, away from windows and as close to the center of the structure as possible. If you live in a mobile home, make prior arrangements to seek shelter with neighbors who have a basement.

When thunderstorms threaten Charles Mix County, weather spotters are deployed. These spotters consist of law enforcement, firefighters, and private citizens who are located across the county. These individuals attend training provided by the National Weather Service.

In conjunction with Severe Weather Awareness Week the National Weather Service is going to conduct a state-wide test tornado drill on Wednesday, April 24, 2019. The drill will consist of three test messages which will be broadcast on the NOAA weather radios:

10:00am - Test Tornado Watch will be issued

10:15am - Test Tornado Warning will be issued

10:30am - “All Clear” message will be issued

Charles Mix County will be participating in the event by blowing the outdoor sirens in the county when the tornado warning is issued. This means that at 10:15 A.M. on Wednesday, April 24the sirenswill blow a steady three-minute blast. There will be a designated person in each community that will report back to the dispatch center to make sure that all sirens are working. The county no longer sounds the outside sirens for an “All Clear”. Just to help clarify something on the siren is that it is an “outdoor” siren. This does not mean that it is located outdoors it means that if you are outdoors then you should hear the siren and take immediate shelter. These sirens are not meant to alert people that are indoors. Remember, take immediate shelter.

Notification to the public during threatening weather is accomplished by television, radio, the internet, mobile app notifications, and sirens during a tornado. While these are good, they all have drawbacks. For the most accurate and timely weather information, I recommend buying a NOAA weather radio. NOAA weather radio provides continuous broadcasts of the latest weather information directly from the National Weather Service offices and these broadcasts are tailored for our specific area. The broadcast for Charles Mix County comes from a transmitter located near Pickstown. These radios can be set to play continuously or just come on when there is an emergency weather alert. Many models can operate on batteries, which makes them portable so they can be taken with you when you are out camping. I recommend that if you purchase one of these radios, that you get one with both the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME). SAME allows you to program the radio so only messages for the area you want are received, for instance just Charles Mix County. The EAS feature allows for messages other than severe weather. These include warning and information for other natural or manmade disasters. The cost of these radios are from twenty dollars on up.