048
NOUS43 KJKL 041415
PNSJKL
KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>120-041600-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
915 AM EST WED MAR 4 2026
..PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
900 AM EST WED MAR 4 2026
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE (NWS) WEATHER FORECAST OFFICES (WFOS) IN
JACKSON, LOUISVILLE AND PADUCAH, KY, AND CHARLESTON, WV; THE KENTUCKY
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY; AND THE KENTUCKY BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION
PLAN TO CONDUCT A LIVE CODE TORNADO WARNING TEST ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4 AT
APPROXIMATELY 10:07 AM EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST) THROUGHOUT THE
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS TEST IS TO SUPPORT THE KENTUCKY STATEWIDE TORNADO
DRILL, PART OF KENTUCKY’S ANNUAL SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK. THE USE
OF THE LIVE EVENT CODE IS INTENDED TO MAXIMIZE PARTICIPATION IN THE
STATEWIDE TORNADO DRILL BY LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCIES AND BY
BROADCAST PARTNERS, INCREASING THE PREPAREDNESS OF PARTNERS AND THE
PUBLIC.
THE EMERGENCY TEST MESSAGE WILL BE BROADCAST ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH OF
KENTUCKY VIA AUDIO AND SPECIFIC AREA MESSAGE ENCODING (SAME) TONES OVER 38
OF THE 41 NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTERS SERVING KENTUCKY AND WILL ACTIVATE
THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM (EAS). PER AGREEMENT WITH CINCINNATI AREA BROADCASTERS,
THE LIVE CODE TEST WILL NOT BE CONDUCTED FOR THE COUNTIES IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY
SERVED BY THE WFO IN WILMINGTON, OHIO.
THE AUDIO MESSAGE WILL STATE THAT THE MESSAGE IS ONLY A TEST. THE WORLD METEOROLOGICAL
ORGANIZATION (WMO) TEXT MESSAGES WILL USE A VALID TIME EVENT CODE (VTEC) PRODUCT CLASS
CODE OF /T/ FOR TEST AND THE WORD TEST WILL BE REPEATED SEVERAL TIMES IN THE BODY OF THE
MESSAGE. THE TEST WILL NOT BE SENT TO CELLPHONES VIA THE WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT
WEA) SYSTEM, ALTHOUGH IN AN ACTUAL TORNADO WARNING THIS SYSTEM WOULD BE USED.
PLEASE NOTE THE 38 PARTICIPATING NWR TRANSMITTERS CONDUCTING THE LIVE
EVENT CODE TEST WILL NOT CONDUCT A REQUIRED WEEKLY TEST ON MARCH 4, 2026.
TABLE 1. THE NWS TEXT PRODUCTS TO BE DISSEMINATED BY WFOS JACKSON,
LOUISVILLE AND PADUCAH, KY, AND CHARLESTON, WV DURING THE TEST
PRODUCT NAME WFO WMO HEADING AWIPS ID
------------ --- ----------- --------
TORNADO WARNING JACKSON WFUS53 KJKL TORJKL
TORNADO WARNING LOUISVILLE WFUS53 KLMK TORLMK
TORNADO WARNING PADUCAH WFUS53 KPAH TORPAH
TORNADO WARNING CHARLESTON WFUS53 KRLX TORRLX
FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS ARE PROVIDED ONLINE AT:
HTTPS://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/LMK/KENTUCKYTORNADODRILL
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
JANE MARIE WIX
WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST
NWS JACKSON, KY
JANE.WIX@NOAA.GOV
606-666-2560
MICHAEL KOCHASIC
WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST
NWS LOUISVILLE, KY
MICHAEL.KOCHASIC@NOAA.GOV
502-969-8842
CHRISTINE WIELGOS
WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST
NWS PADUCAH, KY
CHRISTINE.WIELGOS@NOAA.GOV
270-744-6440
TONY EDWARDS
WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST
NWS CHARLESTON, WV
TONY.EDWARDS@NOAA.GOV
304-356-3390
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.
Main Text Page