The annual statewide tornado drill is Wednesday, March 8 at 9:30 AM.
-
Please help us spread the word about severe weather safety!
- North Carolina’s annual statewide tornado drill for 2017 will take place on Wednesday, March 8, at 9:30 AM EST. Every school, business, work place, and family across the state is strongly encouraged to participate in the statewide tornado drill. In the event that there is severe weather Wednesday morning, the backup date for the statewide tornado drill is Friday, March 10, 2017 at 9:30 AM. 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 Midland WR-100 that many schools have) do not sound an audible alert for the RMT product. As such, you should either plan to start your tornado drill on your own at 9:30 AM; or, you can manually turn on your NOAA Weather Radio receiver around 9:25 AM, and listen to the audio broadcast to hear when the RMT is issued, which will mark the beginning of the statewide tornado drill. 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, organization, or family feel that you have adequately practiced your tornado shelter procedures.