Vanderbilt -focused weather reporting system led to siren activation April 11
Posted 4/17/2008
The sirens sounded shortly after the university received notification from its contracted weather-reporting system that a storm cell moving from the west toward Vanderbilt was “showing signs of rotation and was capable of producing a tornado.”
Although the campus escaped tornadic winds, the National Weather Service did determine later that the storm cell that activated the Vanderbilt sirens spawned a tornado that touched down and did minor damage in Dickson, Tenn.
To ensure the safety of the Vanderbilt community by minimizing weather-related risks, Vanderbilt subscribes to a private weather monitoring service that focuses on the Vanderbilt campus. This service has a dedicated meteorologist and uses several sources of information, including the National Weather Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Lightning Detection network as well as proprietary weather-monitoring technology.
Metropolitan Nashville, whose siren system wasn’t activated as a result of the storm, uses information from the National Weather Service and has different activation criteria than the weather-reporting system the university employs.
“The Vanderbilt sirens are activated when there is indication a tornado is 15 or 30 minutes out,” says Vanderbilt Police Commander Pat Cunningham. “Since this weather situation met that protocol, the sirens were activated.”
The Nashville sirens are activated when the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning for any part of Davidson County.
Vanderbilt’s five sirens on campus are one of several emergency notification tools that also include AlertVU, Vanderbilt’s new emergency notification system. Vanderbilt community members can sign up to receive alerts via AlertVU at www.vanderbilt.edu/alertvu. AlertVU is activated during situations that pose an immediate threat to the health and safety of the Vanderbilt community, such as a tornado headed for campus or an active shooter on campus.
Contact: Missy Pankake, (615) 322-NEWS
Missy.pankake@vanderbilt.edu
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