Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – Crews are continuing to investigate the accidental activation of the City of Jonesboro’s tornado sirens on Tuesday.

According to an update from the city, a possible cause, determined based on early diagnosis, could be a faulty logic board that operates Siren 2003. The update said modern warning systems are highly computerized, with testing requiring multiple layers of code work.

| WEATHER UPDATES: Click here for seven-day and hour-by-hour Jonesboro weather forecasts

“No codes indicate an intentional testing activation,” the update said. Both the subject repeater and the logic board were replaced.

Ronnie Sturch, Jonesboro E911 director, told JRN the parent company of the sirens was investigating the incident.

“We didn’t activate it; the worker was working on the siren, and all of a sudden, when he finished that siren, they activated on their own,” he said. “There’s been a lot of investigation going into that.”

He added that exactly how many sirens activated is unknown.

“We’re not getting the reports back right now. The system is not up and running to where it’s giving us all the reports back. But we had calls from several different locations, so we’re thinking there were several sirens that could have been activated, possibly, but it all goes back to that one siren,” he said.

The sirens, which Jonesboro E911 Dispatch reported as sounding Tuesday afternoon, produced a warning sound not typically heard. City officials said the tone was a “nonstandard sound” and will not be what residents hear when a tornado warning is issued.

Sturch said the sound that typically plays during a tornado warning is called a “wail,” which lasts for three minutes. The tone heard Tuesday is called a “hi-lo,” and is one of many sounds that can be programmed into the sirens. It will not be used during an emergency; only the wail will be used.

“The hi-lo tone that came out yesterday is a whole different tone, and I think that goes back to either some programming issues that they found on that siren,” Sturch said. “I’ve been asked several times, ‘Is that a new tone we’re gonna be hearing?’ Absolutely not. We will still be using the wail that we have used for years.”

Tuesday’s accidental activation comes as the city is upgrading, performing maintenance, relocating, and installing new sirens as the city continues to grow. The radio systems used to activate the sirens are being upgraded, with that phase of the project hopefully being completed by the end of the day today (Wednesday, July 15), Sturch said.

| READ MORE: City of Jonesboro looking to expand coverage of tornado sirens

Sirens could sound during this process, the city’s update said, but that was unlikely, and citizens should not be alarmed.

Maintenance and upgrades for the sirens began last week, with crews working in the area south of Nettleton Avenue. This week, they have moved to the area north of Nettleton Avenue.

The next phase will be relocating some sirens to improve coverage, as well as installing four new omnidirectional sirens in gap areas that cannot be covered by relocating existing ones. This part of the project will start in the next few weeks, Struch said. Once these sirens are installed, the city’s total sirens will increase from the current 33 to 37.

The project costs roughly $200,000, with the funding coming from the city’s American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds.

The siren systems have multiple ways of being activated. The city uses the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Rapid Warn System, which will activate the sirens if any of them touch a tornado-warned area.

Following that automatic activation, sirens go quiet for three minutes, during which E911 staff are monitoring weather patterns and movements to determine if sirens need to be reactivated. If that is determined to be the best course of action, E911 manually activates the sirens.

“The reason we pause is to let the batteries recharge, because [the sirens] are activated through the battery system. If it’s AC power, in most storms your AC power is going to go out, so there wouldn’t be any way to activate them,” Sturch explained.

| ADD US ON GOOGLE NEWS: Click here to see more local news from Jonesboro Right Now

Sturch said all sirens in the city’s system are outdoor sirens, so there is a higher possibility of people not hearing warning sounds if they are indoors. He stressed that people should have several ways to receive warnings, such as through NWS alerts sent to one’s phone.

“We do like to stress to the public, don’t depend on one system. Yes, [the sirens] are a system; if you hear it, you know what’s going on. But also, pay attention to your phones. Pay attention to your local weather,” he said. “Use all the systems, all the tools, that are available to you.”

In the event of severe weather, tornado sirens should not be one’s only way to receive warnings. Jonesboro Media Group radio stations 104.9 The Fox, 100.5 The Eagle, and Mix 106.3 will broadcast during tornado-warned storms, with listening options below. JRN will also provide updates on its news site.

• Click here to listen to 104.9 The Fox.
• Click here to listen to 100.5 The Eagle.
• Click here to listen to Mix 106.3.

The Region 8 Storm Team (KAIT-TV) will provide severe weather coverage. Additionally, warnings and information are available on NOAA Weather Radio, broadcast in this area on 162.55 MHz.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include information from an interview with E911 Director Ronnie Sturch.

| DAILY BRIEF: Sign up for the Jonesboro Right Now Daily Brief Newsletter