It is hard to imagine Monday marked the beginning of Spring. We had a very mild winter and our fair share of severe weather, but this week also marks the official beginning of severe weather season.
As we all know severe weather affects every area of this country and we are certainly not exempt from the threat. Here are some of the things you should be doing to ensure the safety of you, your family and your property.
First, it is important to understand what likely impacts we will face in northern Illinois. Obviously the most likely impacts severe thunderstorms which include strong winds, hail, lightning and significant rainfall amounts. While we have not seen flooding in several years this is a very likely safety concern as well. For this month’s article will look at weather threats and what you should do.
This past month brought another tornado to the county along with straight line winds. What can you do to limit your exposure? First, you need to be weather aware. Being weather aware starts long before any potential weather occurs. While we may be skeptical of weather forecaster’s predictions they are usually fairly accurate. So the first step is to perceive the threat.

The second and most important aspect of weather preparedness is how you will receive accurate and timely information, which may save your life. There are several different modes of receiving information and I recommend having at least two different applications.
Let’s start with the list, first would be outdoor warning sirens, secondly mobile alerts, weather radios, and T.V./radio announcements. Starting with what I consider the most widely misused notification system is outdoor sirens. Outdoor sirens are just that notification if you are outside. They were developed to warn those at the park or baseball field — places where information was not readily available.
While our means of communication has changed since the introduction of storm siren their purpose has not. Storm sirens were never intended for notification inside residences or commercial structures and they were certainly never intended to awaken sleeping people.
Mobile alerts are the newest means of emergency notification. By mobile alerts, I am referring to cell phone notification. This is done by two different mobile notifications, the first would be by downloading an application, on my phone I have a Rockford T.V. stations mobile app. This will alert when the National Weather Service issues a message. Again this is a good solution but it relies on a private entity providing weather information. The second option with cell phone notifications is actually in your settings. Under the settings, you can enable “Emergency Notification” which works off a Federal program called IPAWS. While messages can be sent from the Federal partners this system will allow local and regional messages as well.
The Ogle Sheriff’s Office and Ogle County Emergency Management are currently working toward certified use of this system. The old standby for many years has been television and radio, both of which are still very relevant. The issue with television and radio is it can’t wake you up, which leads us to weather radios. Weather radios provide a specific purpose of notification in the residence. It will wake you, it will provide you with the proper information and it is specific to you general area.
I cannot stress enough the importance of a weather radio not only during storm season but throughout the year. Whether the alert is for high water or impending snow, the weather radio will provide the most timely accurate weather information.
Do your part and be weather aware tapping the different resources available to you during the severe weather season ahead. If you have any questions regarding severe weather preparedness please do not hesitate to contact the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office at 815-732-1101.

Brian VanVickle is the Ogle County Sheriff.