Walworth County storm: Weather warning siren protocols explained
LAKE GENEVA, Wis. - Following a destructive and fatal storm in the Lake Geneva area on Friday, July 3, Walworth County officials are clarifying the activation protocols for the area's outdoor warning sirens.
Walworth County warning system
What we know:
The outdoor warning siren system in Walworth County consists of 66 sites, which are connected to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The sirens trigger automatically under only two conditions: a tornado warning or a severe thunderstorm warning with winds of 80 mph or greater. Three local 911 centers can also manually activate them if the automatic system fails.
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Siren grouping
What we know:
Sirens are grouped into areas by the municipality that owns the sirens. If one of the two warnings above touches the area boundary in which a group of sirens is located, the system automatically activates all the warning sirens in that area.
For example – if a warning meeting the criteria touches the Lake Geneva siren boundary, but does not touch the East Troy siren boundary, the Lake Geneva sirens will sound, but the East Troy sirens will not.
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July 3 sequence of events
Timeline:
At 11:52 a.m., the NWS issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Walworth County.
At 11:53 a.m., the NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning for all of WWalworth County. This warning was issued for 70 mile per hour wind gusts and quarter-sized hail observed by trained weather spotters. The severe thunderstorm warning was not issued for a destructive thunderstorm with winds greater than 80 miles per hour and therefore did not activate the outdoor warning sirens.
At 12:28 p.m, the NWS issued a tornado warning based on radar rotation for parts of eastern Walworth County and parts of Racine and Kenosha counties. This warning touched the boundaries for the cities of Lake Geneva and Elkhorn, the Village of East Troy, and the townships of Geneva, Linn, and Lyons, automatically triggering the sirens in those areas.
Stay updated
What you can do:
Officials emphasize that outdoor sirens are only one layer of defense and urge the public to use multiple communication channels—including mobile apps, social media, TV, and radio to receive advance weather alerts.
The Source: The City of Lake Geneva sent FOX6 a press release.