Statewide Tornado Drill Set For Early Thursday Afternoon

Wisconsin Emergency Management, the National Weather Service, and the Wisconsin Broadcasters Associations are teaming up again to sponsor statewide tornado drills on Thursday, April 20.

The drills are being held during what Governor Scott Walker declared Tornado & Severe Weather Awareness Week in Wisconsin, April 17-21.

The tornado readiness drill begins at 1 p.m. with a statewide mock tornado watch, followed by a statewide mock tornado warning at 1:45 p.m., with most radio and television stations issuing the test warnings. Weather radios and communities will sound their tornado sirens as part of the drill. Another mock tornado warning will be issued at 6:45 p.m. to prepare families and second-shift workers.

The National Weather Service says Wisconsin averages 23 tornadoes a year and there were 16 recorded tornadoes in 2016.

In the event of severe storms on Thursday, the drills will be postponed until Friday.