Severe Weather Awareness week is being observed in Iowa this week and today’s focus is on receiving warning information. Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen says it’s important for people to stay aware of the weather and forecasts. She explains that the National Weather Service is now able to issue more specific warnings instead of an entire county at a time, “As technology improves, the National Weather Service is able to really break down the areas where there is a threat. So they’re able to distribute the polygons, which show where exactly the storm will track. Because it is a complaint that we hear all the time, ‘We don’t want the sirens going off in Crawfordsville when we’ve got sunshine and blue skies, and the storm is actually happening in Wellman.’ You know, the weather service has taken that to heart and they have adjusted that. And luckily here in Washington County our siren warning system abides with those polygons.” Reisen adds that some counties in Iowa still sound their sirens across the county, and not just within the polygons.

Any time there is a severe thunderstorm warning or tornado warning issued for any area of Washington County, KCII will stop regular programming and bring you up to the minute coverage of the storm with our Severe Weather Action Team. Anyone who has the KCII mobile app will receive a notification when the KCII Severe Weather Action Team goes live on the air with storm coverage. You can hear that coverage on AM and FM KCII, online at KCIIRadio.com or on our free mobile apps. And if the power goes out, KCII stays on air with our emergency backup generators.