Tornado Warning Last Night
 

My phone beeped at 4:45am last night with a tornado warning for "this area". It said to "immediately seek shelter". It was not a watch or anything. It was a warning of an immediate threat.

I checked the radar and there were some storms. And I stayed awake for a while just to be aware. But there didn't seem to be any really bad weather in our immediate area.

Anybody else get the warning or witness any really nasty weather?

The weather radio went off twice, but I could hear the message, also my phone went off twice, but as I recall just severe thunderstorms. I dashed outside and put down the umbrella, and went back to sleep, heard some thunder and that was about it.

I got the warning on my phone and TV, and also got some very heavy rainfall, south of 466A.

We keep our phones turned off when we're sleeping. My tablet was on though, and I didn't receive anything on that. My tablet doesn't have cellular service so that might be why. It'd probably be great if the NWS could send local warnings like that through wifi notifications in addition to cellular notifications.

FYI, Iphones and Android cellphones both have a "do not disturb" setting that will prevent whatever type of ringing or normal notification sounds that you want to prevent. But, it will not disable the Government warning systems. So, using the "do not disturb" setting instead of turning off the phone is an alternative way to get the weather warnings.

Yea, my emergency weather radio went off at ~4:00AM scared the crap outta me. Only the 2nd time in 3yrs it has gone off and it is LLLOOOUUUDD! I have it set to only go off for Tornado warnings. Tornado was "possible" somewhere in Weekie-Wachie area according to the NWS announcement on the device with heavy T-Storms. My weather station on the roof recorded less than 1/10th inch here in Amelia since midnight.

I use do not disturb. That’s why I got the alarm. No phone calls, text or email beeps, etc. Just the warnings. And you can set the start/stop times so you never have to fool with it. Set it once and you’re done. Highly recommended.

It's great that you all use your phones and set them to do not disturb, and keep them on 24/7. We do not. The only electronic communication device we have on at night is my tablet, which doesn't have cellular service.

It would be great if those alarms were accessible with wifi and not just cellular service.

Strange, but I could've sworn I said all this already. Maybe it'll be absorbed the second time around.

Consider also that some people in this country still don't even own a cell phone, but do have wifi service. They don't get those alarms either, because those alarms are only sent over cellular service, not wifi. Which - is another good reason why it'd be great if those alarms were accessible with wifi and not just cellular service.

Hint: it is a suggestion, an idea, for technology. Not a request for advice on alternatives for what my family has chosen to do.

I think the warnings are sent out through the cellular network because they can be targeted to a specific geographical area. A wifi warning would come through the Internet, and I don't think the technology is available to send the message only to Internet customers located in a specific geographical area. Some people get their Internet service from a satellite, and they could be located anywhere in the world.

Weather Alert
 

An F-1 Tornado with gust up to 110 mph hit Flagler County Early this morning.

Midland - WR120B/WR120EZ - NOAA Emergency Weather Alert Radio - S.A.M.E. Localized Programming, Trilingual Display, 60+ Emergency Alerts, & Alarm Clock (WR120B - Box Packaging) IT DOES A FINE JOB. It self tests itself every Wednesday at about noon and again around 7PM.

This is the 2nd time that it did its job throughout the night excluding Irma and another whopper storm about a year before Irma. There is no way that you could miss the alarm that goes off.

We have our phone set to accept calls from everyone in our contact list and I have Wesh2 & Accuweather set to give us alarms around the clock when needed. Everything went off at the same time last night just as planned. I'm going to take Wesh2 off the roster. Our Cell Phones are hooked into the Booster that Verizon provided and that is internet driven. However, if the internet went out the phones would and do still alert us inside the house without being connected to wi-fi.

The main thing, Thank God the alarm was a fugazi.

:ohdear: For awhile I was thinking the attitude had changed...... silly me! Just the name! :icon_wink:

:mademyday:

Load one of the TV station apps on your tablet, You will get notifications from them. Not as accurate but it works. Also the NWS apps work on a tablet after you enter your location and allow notifications. There are a number of ways around the lack of cellular device available.

The warning I got on my radio was a tornado near Gainesville. Turned out to be the real deal. Far away though. Don't know why I got the alarm.