Tornado sirens will sound twice in MN Thursday as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week

Tornado sirens to sound twice in MN on Thursday

It's Severe Weather Awareness Week in Minnesota. FOX 9's Se Kwon has the details.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The outdoor warning sirens will sound across Minnesota twice on Thursday as part of a statewide tornado drill for severe weather awareness week.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said the active outdoor warning siren and other notification systems would sound on Thursday, April 11, at 1:45 p.m. and again at 6:45 p.m. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will activate its weekly test code and the NWS said it would post on social media during the test.

Thursday’s test is separate from the regular tests conducted on the first Wednesday of every month.

According to the NWS, the counties and cities decide when and how to activate the sirens. During severe weather, sirens typically sound for about three minutes and rarely run for the entire weather warning. The reasons for siren activation vary. Some counties only sound the siren for tornadoes, while others use it for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms with winds at least 70 to 80 mph.

Severe Weather Awareness Week in Minnesota and Wisconsin runs from April 8 to April 12. It includes topics on floods, tornadoes, extreme heat, severe storms, lightning and hail, and weather alerts and warnings. To learn more, visit the NWS website here.

First-ever February tornado in Wisconsin

A historic storm hit Wisconsin on Thursday as a tornado touched down for the first time in recorded history during the month of February. The National Weather Service said the tornado near Evansville, Wis., was a high-end EF2 with 135 mph winds.