March 2, 2026, 4:08 a.m. CT
A whirlwind of activity is planned this week as the National Weather Service and emergency management officials statewide observe an annual event in which they encourage Kansans to prepare for the possibility of tornadoes and other severe storms.
Scheduled activities include a storm spotter class in Topeka and a statewide tornado drill.
Meanwhile, the weather service will use social media to educate the public about different types of severe weather threats on different days of the week.
Storm spotter class to be offered
The Shawnee County emergency management department and the weather service encourage Kansans to prepare for the possibility of severe storms during Kansas Severe Weather Awareness Week, which begins March 2.
Those agencies and Washburn University will offer a free storm spotter class to the public from 7 to 8:30 p.m. March 3 in the Kansas Room of Washburn’s Memorial Union, 1820 SW Jewell Ave.
Those who attend will learn about thunderstorm safety and thunderstorm development and structure, as well as how to report information.
Tornado drill planned
Sirens in Shawnee County will then be among those activated when a statewide tornado drill is held at 10 a.m. March 4.
Public safety officials at that time plan to test all weather warning communications systems statewide.
They ask that members of the public, particularly schools and businesses, use the drill to practice what they’ll do if severe weather threatens.
Businesses might want to look at whether they have sufficient space to safely shelter everyone who might be present during a tornado warning, said Dusty Nichols, director of Shawnee County’s emergency management department.
Sirens will only be sounded in warned areas
After several years of analysis, Shawnee County last spring put in place a new standard operating procedure calling for it to activate sirens only in warned areas during tornado warnings.
The county had previously initially activated sirens countywide whenever a warning was issued for any part of the county, including areas where the warning wasn’t in effect.
The county’s former practice was to then temporarily stop sounding sirens before resuming sounding them, but only in the warned areas.
The county plans to still sound sirens when a tornado warning is issued, temporarily stop, then resume sounding them.
But that will happen only in the warned areas, Nichols said.
These topics will be highlighted
The website of the weather service’s Topeka office indicated it would share social media posts during severe weather awareness week sharing information about the following:
- March 2: Preparedness.
- March 3: Flood safety.
- March 4: Tornado safety.
- March 5: Hail and wind safety.
- March 6: Lightning safety.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at 785–213–5934 or threnchir@gannett.com.
