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   Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Aug-2024 04:08:01 JST Paul Cantrell

   Minnesota really needs •two• different weather sirens:

   One that means “heads up, pay attention, get inside, get info” (which is more or less the current siren’s official meaning)…

   …and one that means “BASEMENT. NOW.”

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Aug-2024 04:10:19 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     Local Slack I’m on lit up during yesterday’s sirens with people wondering whether they’re supposed to be in the basement or whether there’s a tornado or what. (No tornado; the reason turned out to be storm with winds over 70mph.)

     These are pretty informed, plugged-in, information-hungry people wondering this. It’s no wonder that people here just ignore the sirens half the time.

     Distinguishing “you should get inside” from “RUN” might help with that.

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Aug-2024 04:13:37 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     The existing steady tone could continue to mean “get inside, get info,” and the frequency varying quickly up and down could mean “GET TO THE BASEMENT!”

     I wonder whether that’s possible with the existing weather siren hardware? Seems plausible.

   • Embed this notice
     Molly B (mjibrower@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Aug-2024 04:17:38 JST Molly B

     in reply to

     @inthehands We have several different ones on Oklahoma: flood, tornado, high winds, and I think wildfire. You can’t distinguish among them when the wind is howling--last year when we had 80-100mph winds we couldn’t even hear the siren, which is less than a block away.

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Aug-2024 04:17:38 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Molly B

     @mjibrower
     That last bit, oh wow

     I want to say that the ones in MN are loud enough that you can hear it short of a tornado on top of you, but…I don’t actually know how true that is.

   • Embed this notice
     Stu (tehstu@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Aug-2024 04:23:24 JST Stu

     in reply to

     @inthehands what would be the trigger, for the county folks operating the sirens, from the local NWS office to pick one or the other?

     I like the idea, we've got the same issue in Iowa.

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Aug-2024 04:55:50 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Stu

     @tehstu
     It’s a good question. I wonder what a meteorologist would have to say about the idea.

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Aug-2024 04:56:09 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Molly B

     @mjibrower
     Uff da, as the Minnesotans say. I’m really glad you’re in one piece.

   • Embed this notice
     Molly B (mjibrower@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Aug-2024 04:56:10 JST Molly B

     in reply to

     @inthehands It was terrifying. We were in a closet under the stairs and it was like nothing I’ve ever heard. I’ve heard the “freight train” sound they talk about, but this was a whole other level.