Summer Weather Emergency Procedures and Notifications

Fort Wayne is subject to frequent tornado and thunderstorm watches during the spring, summer, and fall months. In some cases, those watches may turn into warnings.

 

Here are definitions of thunderstorm and tornado watches and warnings courtesy of The Weather Channel:

 

Severe thunderstorm watch. Conditions are conducive to the development of severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.  

 

Severe thunderstorm warning. A severe thunderstorm has been observed by spotters or indicated on radar, and is occurring or imminent in the warning area. Severe thunderstorms can produce tornadoes or cause damage from their strong wind gusts and/or hail.

 

Tornado watch. Conditions are conducive to the development of tornadoes in and close to the watch area.  

 

Tornado warning. A tornado has been sighted by spotters or indicated on radar and is occurring or imminent in the warning area.  

 

In the case of a tornado warning, IPFW's warning siren and its carillon are tied to Allen County's emergency warning system. When any portion of Allen County is under a tornado warning, the sirens are activated, no matter where the storm is located within Allen County.  

 

In the event of a tornado warning in Allen County, IPFW will activate its Emergency Notification System (ENS). The message you receive will either tell you a tornado has been spotted near campus and you need to take cover immediately or that a tornado warning has been issued for a part of Allen County not affecting campus, and you will be advised to monitor local radio or TV stations for more information.  

 

In order to receive these emergency messages, you are strongly advised to sign up for text message alerts. You may do this by logging in to my.ipfw.edu and editing your alert phone numbers on the right side of the page.

 

If you have any questions about these policies, please contact Chief of University Police Jeff Davis at 260-481-6827.