When do outdoor sirens go off during a tornado warning? — Asked & Answered

I wasn’t the only one wondering how the sirens worked. A few people asked the about the outdoor sirens’ exact function.

We reached out to the City of Amarillo, and Director of the Amarillo Area Office of Emergency Management, Max Dunlap, sent the following response:

“Regarding sirens not going off while there is still an active tornado warning – AAOEM activates the outdoor warning sirens for every tornado warning.

For clarification, the sirens only sound for five minutes per activation. For every warning that is sent out, the outdoor warning sirens are activated at least once.