Stearns County Criteria for Using Outdoor Warning Sirens

UNDATED -- With a chance for a couple of rounds of strong storms this weekend the Stearns County Emergency Management Office has a few reminders for us about outdoor warning sirens.

Emergency Management Director Erin Tufte says the criteria they use to sound the sirens include: a storm warning with a storm containing golf ball size hail or winds higher than 70 miles an hour, a tornado warning, a warned storm 10 miles from a town or city and heading in that direction, or sirens will also be sounded if a trained spotter reports a funnel cloud that has reached the halfway point between the cloud deck and the ground, or when a tornado is on the ground.

Tufte says they use the sirens both day and night.

Since the forecast is calling for severe weather during the overnight hours she recommends you have a way to be alerted while you're sleeping including a weather radio, an app. on your phone or the county's RAVE system that allows you to register your address or cell phone number to be able to receive phone calls, text messages, and emails when the weather is severe.

Tuft says many of us can remember back in July of 2013 when we had a severe weather, wind event come through the area in the overnight hours.  There was a lot of damage throughout the county and the city of St. Cloud.