Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS Indianapolis, IN

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Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Indianapolis IN
141 PM EST Thu Mar 7 2024

...FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 7th, 2024...

Indiana Severe Weather Preparedness Week is March 10th through March
16th, 2024.

Indianapolis, IN - Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb has proclaimed
March 10th through March 16th as Indiana Severe Weather Preparedness
week. A statewide live test tornado drill will be held on Tuesday
March 12th around 1015 am EDT.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) in
Chicago, IL (LOT); Indianapolis, IN (IND); Louisville, KY (LMK);
Northern Indiana (IWX) and Paducah, KY (PAH); the Indiana Department
of Homeland Security (IDHS); and the Indiana Broadcasters
Association (IBA) plan to conduct a live code Tornado Warning test
throughout most of the state of Indiana.

The live code test supports the Indiana Statewide Tornado Drill and
maximizes participation in the drill by local emergency management
agencies and broadcasters and tests broadcast systems.
A live code test means a Tornado Warning test message will be
disseminated via audio and Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME)
tones over NWR transmitters serving Indiana and will activate the
Emergency Alert System (EAS).

The audio message will use the phrase “Tornado Warning” but will
state that the message is only a test. The World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) text messages will use a Valid Time Event Code
(VTEC) Product Class Code of /T/ for Test and the word Test will be
repeated several times in the body of the message. The test will not
be sent to cellphones via the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system,
although in an actual Tornado Warning, this system would be used.

In the event of significant weather hazards in Indiana on the
morning of March 12, the test will be postponed to Wednesday, March
13 at 10:15 AM EDT and will be preceded by another Public
Information Statement announcing the change. If significant weather
hazards cause the backup date test to be canceled, the test drill
will be canceled altogether and not rescheduled.

More information about Indiana Severe Weather Preparedness Week and
the test Tornado Drill can be found online at;
https://www.weather.gov/ind/Severewxweek

For more information, please contact: Sam Lashley Warning
Coordination Meteorologist NWS Indianapolis, IN Sam.Lashley@noaa.gov
317-856-0361


$$

Lashley


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