How to receive severe weather warnings

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – When severe weather approaches, there is typically little time to make life-saving decisions. For your safety, it is important that you have multiple ways to stay aware of the weather and access important weather information.

While all of these methods are great, none of them are foolproof. We therefore recommend having two options for receiving notifications at any time.

You should have several ways to stay aware of the weather and get important weather information:

The first is NOAA Weather Radio. We often refer to them as “severe weather smoke detectors” because they automatically sound an alarm in the event of a natural disaster or storm.

There is also always your local TV station. The 13 ON YOUR SIDE Weather Department streams on-air and online during an active storm.

Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now. When you open the app, you can enable your location to receive active notifications near you.

The latest severe weather warnings can be found here.

Local radio stations should alert you if there is a storm near you. You can even set up devices like Alexa and Google Home to alert you with weather notifications.

Your smartphone also offers numerous options for receiving critical weather warnings. We have a 13 ON YOUR SIDE weather app to help you track the storm and receive alerts.

Download our weather app from the App Store for Apple devices or for your Android device here.

• Nixle is a FREE comprehensive alert system designed to quickly disseminate alerts and public information to a wide range of public entities.
• Alerts and emergency information are received via SMS, email, web and social media in real time for localized emergency situations relevant to the community.
• To register for NIXLE ALERTS
  1. Text your zip code to 888777
  2. Register and create a user profile at https://local.nixle.com/register/

Outdoor sirens are also an option, as they are triggered when there is imminent danger, but can only be heard outdoors. So if you’re indoors, you shouldn’t receive your severe weather alerts this way. Outdoor sirens can also be unreliable, difficult for the hearing impaired, and triggered for reasons other than tornadoes.

• Are designed to warn of all hazards and can be modified to warn people with special needs such as the deaf, hard of hearing, blind, etc.
• Are programmed to notify you of hazards in your area, including tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, straight-line winds, downpours, hail, hazardous material spills, floods, etc.
• You will receive specific information about the storm and the emergency preparedness measures you should take.
• Triggered automatically by local NOAA weather towers when a warning is issued. Notifications occur within seconds of the alert.
• They are battery operated and work even when there is no power. Some models are handheld, while others also have an AM/FM radio and alarm clock.
• On average it costs $20.00 per unit. The maintenance of the devices is no more expensive than that of smoke detectors.

If you would like to add to our reports, send your photos along with your name and location to 616-559-1310.

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