This folder fills only when there is an active National Weather Service watch, warning or advisory for the area. Empty is good news. It means nothing is out right now.
What we watch
Seven counties: Randolph, plus the six that touch it — Macon, Monroe, Audrain, Boone, Howard and Chariton. A severe thunderstorm that has not reached Moberly yet is usually already a warning one county west, which is why the neighbours are included.
Alerts here come straight from the National Weather Service feed, unedited, and clear themselves when the NWS cancels or expires them.
Watch, warning, advisory
The words are not interchangeable and the difference is the whole point.
Watch — conditions are favourable. It could happen. Make a plan, keep a radio on.
Warning — it is happening, or radar says it is about to. Act now.
Advisory — expect inconvenience and some hazard, short of a warning. Usually winter weather, wind or fog.
A tornado watch means the atmosphere could produce one over the next several hours. A tornado warning means get to your safe place immediately.
How to be warned when you are asleep
Outdoor sirens are meant for people who are outdoors. They are not a bedroom alarm, and plenty of Randolph County is out of earshot of any of them. Three things that do reach you:
Wireless Emergency Alerts — already built into your phone for tornado and flash flood warnings. Check they are switched on in your phone’s notification settings; people turn them off after one loud test and forget.
A NOAA Weather Radio — the only one that works when the power and the cell network are both down. Programme it for Randolph County.
Randolph County Civic Ready — free, county-wide, by text, call or email. It carries local emergency notices the NWS does not issue, such as road closures and evacuations.
Forecasts and current warnings for Moberly are at weather.gov. Randolph County’s Emergency Management Director is David G. Gaines; the city’s is Shelby Creed, 660-263-0346.
In a life-threatening emergency call 911. This page explains how alerts reach you; it is not itself an alerting service. Corrections: news@moberlymainline.com.
