SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) -- There are more than 80 outdoor sirens scattered around Sioux Falls.
They're used to warn people outdoors of tornadoes.
Now, there's another weather type that will sound the sirens in the city: a destructive severe thunderstorm warning.
That warning type means mot
her nature is expected to unleash 80-mile-per-hour winds or baseball size hail.
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"So those are a threat to life and property and we want folks to know that are outdoors to take shelter, just as we would for a tornado warning," City of Sioux Falls Emergency Manager Regan Smith said.
The National Weather Service began using the destructive designation in 2021.
Much like a tornado warning, a destructive severe thunderstorm warning will activate a wireless emergency alert to mobile devices.
"We have this extra designation to kind of push that warning message just a little bit higher, so it's reaching people's phones. We don't do it for the base level severe thunderstorm warning because then often people's phones would be going off much more frequently," NWS Sioux Falls Warning Coordination Meteorologist Peter Rogers said.
Sirens in Minnehaha County will also be used for destructive severe thunderstorm warnings.
The announcement comes ahead of Severe Weather Awareness Week in South Dakota.
"We're in severe weather season, so we want people to start think that way when they're out to be weather aware so when severe weather does happen they now what to do, take action, protect themselves and their families," Smith said.
The Sioux Falls sirens are tested at 11 a.m. of the first Friday of the month from March to October, however the system will be activated Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. for a community wide tornado drill.
Minnehaha County will test the outdoor warning sirens on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. ...read more read less
