Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and the National Weather Service have designated March 26th through March 30th as Severe Weather Awareness Week. Knowing when severe weather is possible will give you time to prepare! (Learn more at https://www.weather.gov/dmx/)

Each day during Severe Weather Awareness Week, the National Weather Service in Des Moines will cover severe weather topics:
Monday: Severe Thunderstorms
Tuesday: Receiving Warning Information
Wednesday: Tornadoes
Thursday: Family Preparedness
Friday: Flooding

If no severe weather is occurring or expected, the National Weather Service will
conduct a Tornado Drill on Wednesday, March 28th, between 10 and 11 a.m. The purpose of this drill is to ensure that Iowans can adequately receive a Tornado
Warning and can practice any actions that would be taken in the event of a real
tornado. The timeline for the drill is as follows:

Test Tornado Drill: Wednesday, March 28th at 10 AM (Primary Backup Date Thursday, March 29th at 10 AM, Secondary Backup Date Friday, March 30th at 10 AM)

Around 10:00 AM – A Test Tornado Watch will be issued for Iowa

Around 10:15 AM – A Test Tornado Warning will be issued for Iowa

10:35 AM – Test Tornado Warning for Iowa expires

11:00 AM – Test tornado watch expires