What do the Civil Defense Sirens on the radio mean?

Question

I was listening to the radio and all of the sudden the Civil Defense Sirens went off... on the radio, not in the county sirens. They didn't say anything afterwards, we came inside to check the weather (thinking that may be the cause) and we found a strange forecast, saying that the atmosphere was a little messy.

Specifically, this is what it said AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL

1056 AM CDT MON MAY 26 2008

.DISCUSSION...

ISSUED 1051 AM CDT MON MAY 26 2008

RATHER MESSY ATMOSPHERE THIS MORNING. CONVECTION OVERNIGHT AND

PATCHY ACTIVITY FROM THE PLAINS TO THE MIDWEST HAVE TURNED THE

ATMOSPHERE OVER QUITE A BIT. PLENTY OF MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS

IN PLACE TO KEEP DESTABILIZATION TO A MINIMUM. PROBLEM MAY BE THE

LIMITED CLEARING OUT IN THE QUAD CITIES AREA. ACTIVITY SHOULD BE

LATER IN THE AFTERNOON. WITH THE VERY SKETCHY CLOUD

SITUATION...TEMPS ARE ALSO A BIT OF A PROBLEM FOR THE FORECAST.

Answer 1

Okay first part. Cival Defense or CD is no longer in existence. They were disbanded long ago and were the civilian equivalent of what FEMA is today. The outdoor sirens you hear for weather and other emergencies are derived from the old CD air raid sirens. Maybe thats why people think CD is still around?

Anyway to your question. The siren on the radio you heard was a weather alert giving details about the potential later today for dangerous storms. This is also known as a severe weather outlook. IL has potential today to see some very severe storms this afternoon.

Convection of warm ground air into a cool atmosphere can spawn nasty things. Keep an eye on the weather today and pay attention to your local weather station. You can also go to the NWS website and see radar images and get info on weather situations in your area. Stay safe.