Tornado sirens go off in Fulton as precuation

ABC 17 Stormtrack Chief Meteorologist Sharon Ray and the National Weather Service in St. Louis said they did not see rotation with storms in Callaway County as of 9 p.m. Monday.

The National Weather Service said that a couple of Callaway County law enforcement officials believed they saw funnel clouds and Callaway County Emergency Management chose to sound the sirens as a precaution.

“This is the time of evening when low light conditions and rapidly moving cloud filaments can look ominous, and we think that’s what happened in Callaway,” wrote the weather service in a web chat.

“Law enforcement officers from two different agencies, one being a Callaway County deputy, reported to the Emergency Operations Center / Joint Communications Center there was possible cloud rotation in the Fulton area,” said Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism in a press release. “A resident, whom is a certified weather spotter, on the north end of Fulton also reported the same observation. By standard procedure, this information was forwarded to the Emergency Operations Center / Joint Communications Center, whereas, they have direct contact with the National Weather Service and ultimately make the determination as to whether the warning sirens should be activated. The Callaway County Sheriff’s Office has NO access to the controls and only report information witnessed or received.”

Editor’s Note: The original version of this story stated “deputies believe they saw funnel clouds and chose to sound the sirens as a precaution.” It should have read “the Callaway County Emergency Management center chose to sound the sirens as a precaution.” This sentence has been corrected.