4 Fort Lupton Press
June 16, 2021
Surprise tornado prompts questions about warnings County, weather service, urging residents to sign up for phone alerts BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Many Weld County residents didn’t recieve any kind of warning when a tornado swept through area west of Fort Lupton June 7, according to a press release by Weld County officials. Several residents contacted the county, worried they were not warned ahead of time, according to the release. “If people are living 30 to 40 miles away from the tornado path and can see the tornado, they will not receive an alert warning. Only residents who are in imminent danger in the path of the tornado will receive the warning alerts,” said David Barjenbruch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder. The Weld County Emergency Management department suggests residents sign up each spring for CodeRed Alerts and also answer
TORNADO FROM PAGE 1
buildings did not. “We lost a lot of trees,” she said. “There’s a job site just south of us. Their trailer is up against our house. It’s about 10 feet away from the house. I don’t know how it didn’t get into our house. There’s plywood up in the trees.” Weiner said the tornado looked like a landspout at first. “I got a really cool picture of it from far away,” she said. “It looked so tiny. I didn’t think it would do that much damage. It was just a baby. But it sat for four or five minutes.” McKinney’s wife, Sandy, said they went to the front door once they learned about the tornado. “Then the alarm went off afterward,” she said. “We never had an alarm until it was to the neighbors, and she said she didn’t get an alarm either. It happened so fast. In the
questions about the warning alerts. The county uses CodeRed for emergency alerts that impacts public safety such as active shooter, major accidents, flood warnings, or major infrastructure issues. Weld County does not issue weather alerts through CodeRed. The weather alerts come directly from the National Weather Service through CodeRed. Weld County landlines are programmed into the CodeRed system to receive message alerts. When a cell phone is registered with the CodeRed system, there is an option to receive the weather alerts. An additional warning alert tool is called IPAWS, used by the Federal Emergency Management System that dispatches Amber Alerts and also the National Weather Service alerts. The difference between the IPAWS and CodeRed is the CodeRed system is connected to a physical address, such as a landline. Cell phones are registered with the CodeRed system. When a severe weather event occurs, the CodeRed automatically sends a warning message within the mapping area of registered cell phones and landlines of people who live and work in Weld County.
Some of the tornado’s damage is scattered across the south side of WCR 26 in Firestone on June 7.
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Sirens The tornado sirens are to alert people if there is a danger of severe weather while working or playing outside. When residents are indoors, they should rely on television, a NOAA radio, cell phone or internet to get information about the severe weather and instructions on safety, according to Weld County officials. A written statement by the Fort Lupton Fire District talked about how the warning siren is used. “They are not meant to warn people who are indoors or asleep. They are not meant to be your only source of warning information. They are designed to alert people who are outdoors that potentially
dangerous weather is imminent and that you should get inside and seek additional information,” the statement said Not all communities within Weld County use the outdoor tornado siren, according to Weld County officials. The towns of Frederick and Firestone do not use the tornado siren to warn people working outdoors or at work. Officials in Frederick also suggest signing up for the emergency CodeRed alerts. In a written statement, the Frederick-Firestone Fire District encouraged residents to be proactive in ensuring they get notified of emergencies in the are, whether they are indoors or outdoors. “The alerts go out as soon as information is known,” the statement said. “The National Weather Service relies on local weather spotters to provide information, since radar may not show exact locations or rely on what is happening on the ground.” To learn more about the weather spotter program, visit https://www. weather.gov/SKYWARN. Or register to receive alerts at www.Weld911alert.com.
house, you couldn’t hear anything until it was right in front of the house.” The National Weather Service rated the tornado as an EF-1 on the Fujita scale with winds of 99 mph. The storm was on the ground for 7 miles and was 50 yards wide in places. It started two miles northeast of Firestone and ended three miles northwest of Platteville.
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The IPAWS system signals off cell phone towers in any physical area using wireless emergency alerts through cell phones. It alerts people who live in Weld County and also people who are visiting and traveling through an impacted area of Weld County. According to Weld County officials, IPAWS can be used for specific occurrences but does not send weather alerts. The National Weather Service is only approved to send out the weather alerts.
The tornado sent this shard of plywood into a tree on Weld County Road 28 in Firestone. A resident said the tornado blew a construction trailer to within 10 feet of her home.
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