MTSU plans to test its tornado sirens on campus and at the Miller Coliseum Complex Monday, April, 5 at 11:20 a.m.

The test, conducted by the University Police Department, is once again a brief, routine dry run for the MTSU system. No safety actions are necessary.

If there’s inclement weather in the area at the scheduled test time, however, the test will be canceled.

MTSU notifies the campus and surrounding neighborhoods before each siren test. The university uses a “first Monday” monthly tornado-siren testing schedule to minimize distractions for the campus and its neighbors.

Under the plan, even if a siren test date falls on a university holiday, the department will still conduct the scheduled test.

MTSU relied on the pinpoint focus of its Accuweather monitoring service the night of March 25, after a series of National Weather Service-issued tornado warnings for Rutherford County finally specified central Murfreesboro as a potential target of dangerous weather.

MTSU activated its tornado sirens and issued a take-cover warning via the Rave Mobile Safety campus emergency notification system at 8:56 p.m. March 25 to 25,309 subscribers via email, along with phone calls, texts and posts on the university’s social media.

Twenty-one minutes later, MTSU issued the National Weather Service’s all-clear message.

The NWS later confirmed that three tornadoes touched down in Middle Tennessee that night, including one in Smyrna.

Members of the campus community can prepare for emergency weather by checking MTSU’s list of recommended shelters at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUTornadoShelters. The complete siren-testing schedule also is available at http://mtsunews.com/tornado-siren-testing.

Remember: When there’s a weather emergency, all students, faculty and staff automatically receive a Rave alert at their MTSU email addresses.

MTSU community members who also want text and/or voice notifications can use the “click here and log in” link at http://mtsunews.com/weather to begin those alerts.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)

A tree uprooted by high winds in an electrical storm blocks a city street in this file image from Pixabay. Middle Tennessee State University tests its tornado siren system on the first Monday of every month at 11:20 a.m. to ensure it’s in working operation if dangerous weather approaches the area. (image by Jan Mallande/Pixabay)