Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant last week declared Monday to be the start of the state’s Spring Severe Weather Preparedness Week, running from Feb. 19 to Feb. 23.
Bryant’s office said in a press release that The National Weather Service will issue a statewide test tornado warning on NOAA weather radios at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
Schools, government agencies and businesses throughout the state are encouraged to participate in the tornado drill.
Bryant’s office said in a press release that Last year went down as the fourth most active year for tornadoes in Mississippi since 1950, according to the National Weather Service.
A total of 69 tornadoes caused five deaths and approximately 60 injuries occurred across the state. So far this year, three tornadoes have impacted Mississippi. Tornadoes cause an average of eight deaths and 107 injuries per year in our state.
EMA and the NWS will focus on specific types of severe weather each day of the week on social media and websites.
The outline for the week includes :
• Monday, Feb. 19: Severe thunderstorms and watches/warnings. Lightning, large hail and damaging winds from severe storms are just as dangerous as tornadoes.
• Tuesday, Feb. 20: Flash flooding. Flooding is the number one cause of weather-related deaths behind heat. Remember… Turn around, don’t drown.
• Wednesday, Feb. 21: Tornado safety and preparedness. A statewide tornado drill including a NOAA Weather Radio test will be conducted at 9:15 a.m.
• Thursday, Feb. 22: Lightning. All thunderstorms are accompanied by lightning, which can be deadly. Remember… When the thunder roars, go indoors.
• Friday, Feb. 23: Receiving severe weather information. There are numerous ways to receive weather alerts from your cellphones to weather radios to mass notification systems.