In recent months, the City of Sturgis' severe weather warning siren system has experienced several inadvertent activations, including this past Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon. The warning system siren was activated in each case without initiation by St. Joseph County Central Dispatch or City authorities.

The incidents started several months ago when St Joseph County emergency services, including the City of Sturgis, switched radio frequencies. This switch included changes to the pager system used to activate our severe weather warning sirens. These weather warning sirens are only activated in case of weather emergencies such as tornadoes, and regular tests.
Following the incident on Tuesday, pagers were reprogramed with a new activation tone. City staff and system consultants believed this would correct issues of stray radio signals or “radio-skip” accidently activating the siren.

With the subsequent inadvertent activation on Wednesday afternoon, other causes are now being investigated and several possible solutions are being evaluated. In the near term, siren frequency has been switched back in an attempt to verify where the problem exists. St. Joseph County Central Dispatch will conduct a test of the weather warning sirens this Saturday, March 19 at 12:05 p.m.

Regular planned testing of the system takes place on the first Saturday of each month during the months of March through October.

The City apologizes for any inconvenience the inadvertent activations have caused and thanks area residents for their understanding as it works to correct this problem.