Tornado Warnings are issued by the National Weather Service when a tornado has been sighted by an officially trained weather spotter or is indicated by Doppler radar. Tornado Warnings are broadcast by local media and by NOAA weather radio. Outdoor Warning/Tornado sirens operated by the Memphis/Shelby County Emergency Management are located in strategic locations throughout Memphis and Shelby County including the cities of Millington, Lakeland, and Arlington.
When a tornado warning is issued for any portion of the county, Memphis/Shelby County Emergency Communications will activate the sirens. Once activated, all sirens within Memphis and Shelby County will sound. This means if a tornado warning is issued for the eastern half of Shelby County, all sirens will be activated.
DO NOT CALL 911 when you hear a Outdoor Warning/Tornado siren. Instead, first tune into local media and/or your Weather Radio. If, after doing so, you believe the siren activation is a malfunction contact the appropriate persons listed for your area below. Tornado Sirens located in the cities of Germantown, Collierville, and Bartlett are activated by the respective city and are not controlled by the Memphis/Shelby County Emergency Management.
A word about Outdoor Warning/Tornado sirens... these sirens are designed to be an early warning device primarily for persons who are outside away from the television and/or radio. Outdoor Warning/Tornado sirens are not frequently heard in homes during spring and summer months for multiple reasons such as the distance from the siren, homes being shut up with air conditioners running and people being asleep during nighttime storms with thunder, rain and wind. For this reason Emergency Management officials highly recommend citizens keep a NOAA weather alert radio in their homes, preferable in the bedroom, with a tone alert. Below you will find a listing of all sirens and their location within Memphis/Shelby County. This is a complete list that shows the correct locations as of November 28, 2011.
