4/17-4/18 Severe Storms Threat

[mjwise]

6 minutes ago, TheNiño said:

Ours went off 90 min ahead of time then never went off again when it finally hit, and there was definitely radar indicated rotation when it did arrive. Plus it was the 4th day in a row our sirens have gone off way too early. Being right next to the lake we are always at the tail end of these warnings. The general public has to be so irritated at this point. I get they want to give as much warning time as possible but 90min and then not sounding them again when the threat is imminent is not ideal.

Here we got them for such a long period because DeKalb was right on the border of two different polygons separated by some time and the mixed E and NE motion of the squall line made them challenging to draw. 

[TheNiño]

Yeah I don’t mean to be sounding critical and this isn’t really on the spc, the warning was justified. This is more on my city specifically. I get it, tornado warning is issued so they sound the alarm. But then 90min (not an exaggeration) elapsed and they never sounded them again.

Meanwhile Libertyville’s automated alarm system kept going off well after the threat had passed.

[sbnwx85]

Tornado Warning!

[sbnwx85]

Saw some lowering as a rotation signature moved to my northwest. Then the gust front hit with 50-55 mph winds. Lots of good CG lightning.

[tuanis]

2 hours ago, TheNiño said:

Yeah I don’t mean to be sounding critical and this isn’t really on the spc, the warning was justified. This is more on my city specifically. I get it, tornado warning is issued so they sound the alarm. But then 90min (not an exaggeration) elapsed and they never sounded them again.

Meanwhile Libertyville’s automated alarm system kept going off well after the threat had passed.

I’m in Libertyville. The sirens went off three times and are now fully automated with no human involvement.

The first was when the severe thunderstorm warning was issued (this is new that the sirens blare for severe thunderstorm warnings). The second was when the first tornado warning was issued. Emergency alerts went off on our phones and tablets at that time. The third was either a separate tornado warning where the polygon included Libertyville, or an update. I was busy with my kids so I wasn’t quite sure. No emergency alert that time.

Either way, the threat had not passed looking at radar, even though all we really saw on the ground was wicked lightning, basically no wind, and buckets of rain… although the skies didn’t open up until after the three sirens, the warnings had expired, and the threat had passed.

The sirens also went off for the severe thunderstorm warning Tuesday evening. So that makes four sirens this week. People have been talking about it and have opinions. It’s not a perfect system at all.

[TheNiño]

1 hour ago, tuanis said:

I’m in Libertyville. The sirens went off three times and are now fully automated with no human involvement.

The first was when the severe thunderstorm warning was issued (this is new that the sirens blare for severe thunderstorm warnings). The second was when the first tornado warning was issued. Emergency alerts went off on our phones and tablets at that time. The third was either a separate tornado warning where the polygon included Libertyville, or an update. I was busy with my kids so I wasn’t quite sure. No emergency alert that time.

Either way, the threat had not passed looking at radar, even though all we really saw on the ground was wicked lightning, basically no wind, and buckets of rain… although the skies didn’t open up until after the three sirens, the warnings had expired, and the threat had passed.

The sirens also went off for the severe thunderstorm warning Tuesday evening. So that makes four sirens this week. People have been talking about it and have opinions. It’s not a perfect system at all.

Fair response. I have a friend there and he claimed the sirens activated first before any warning was issued, then again after the threat had passed and he sent me video of the fact in real time. But I appreciate your first hand account, he’s not a weather weenie. I made a post in the banter thread about the automated system being used and how it’s working. Appreciate your genuine experience with it.  I’m not trying to shit on the new system just wanting to get legit first hand experiences which you did so thank you.

[Mogget]

2.15” of rain here.  Sugar and Pecatonia Rivers out of their banks in Southern Wisconsin.  Lots of warnings and flooded basements.