If you notice a tornado siren sound this Wednesday, March 19, around Milton, no need to be alarmed. Rather, we hope you feel more assured knowing – and hearing – things working as planned.

There are 11 tornado sirens in Milton, not to mention several more over the border in Alpharetta. Whenever the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning for our vicinity, our 911 dispatchers activate the sirens and they start blaring. That could have happened this weekend, but thankfully did not.

Milton's sirens are tested monthly, though those are “silent” so the public can’t hear them. (Alpharetta's siren tests are audible, though, so people in Milton might have heard these every so often.)

But this week's tests will be slightly different, with each siren going off on-by-one for about 10 seconds at a time. (This is different than the monthly tests, when all 11 are impacted at once; also, a legitimate Tornado Warning siren would sound for a lot longer.) So one part of Milton may hear a tornado siren at 9:30 a.m., say, while it happens at 3 p.m. or so in a different part of town. Assuming the weather seems otherwise fine, the sirens sounding on Wednesday do not mean a tornado is imminent. Rather it indicates that, if a tornado WERE on the ground, you would be able to know.

Also, as a reminder: Sirens are one, but not the only tool, to tell people about nearby tornadoes. They’re meant primarily to alert people who are outside already. Still, if the wind is howling, hail is failing, and you’re not close to a siren, you may not hear it going off. That’s why we strongly encourage people to have their phones handy, charged, and with settings adjusted so you get Tornado Warning alerts sent there.