News 104.5 WOKV is committed to serving the NE Florida community with timely, accurate coverage when severe weather threatens. To help better understand what our coverage sounds (and looks) like, here is an overview:What is that tone? The severe weather alert tone, which sounds like, “ding-dong”, is activated when there is an active warned storm in the five county area (Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, St. Johns). We only activate the tone during a tornado or severe thunderstorm warning to alert listeners that there is potentially dangerous weather in the area. The tone plays every 90 seconds during programs and commercials (think of it like a crawl on your TV screen). We recognize the tone can be distracting from normal programming, but we feel it is the best way to keep you aware of severe weather in the area without fully interrupting your favorite program. Why are you interrupting Brian/Mark/Rush/Sean? We take seriously and are committed to providing listeners with timely, accurate reports about severe weather so that they can take appropriate precautions to stay safe. When a tornado or severe thunderstorm warning is issued in the NE Florida area (Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, St. Johns County) we intend to break in to programming to provide the warning details which include the current location of the storm, where it is moving, how fast it is moving, and the greatest threats it poses. Our coverage includes updates from the First Alert Weather Team, led by Action News Jax Chief Meteorologist Mike Buresh. We also recognize the impact storms have on the roads and highways in our area, so the WOKV First Alert Traffic Center is a big part of our severe weather coverage. When there is an active severe thunderstorm warning in Duval County, First Alert Storm Center updates are more frequent and may be on the air for the duration of the warning. This continuous coverage should also be expected when there is a tornado warning for any county in the Jacksonville metro area. What is severe weather vs. a typical storm? As defined by the National Weather Service, a severe thunderstorm warning is issued when radar indicates, or a trained weather spotter reports a thunderstorm producing hail one inch or larger in diameter and/or winds greater than 58 mph. Severe thunderstorms can produce tornadoes with little or no advance warning. How can I report severe weather? You frequently hear reporters and anchors ask for listeners to report what they are seeing. Those first-hand accounts can be valuable, both for the listening public, and also for the National Weather Service. You can report severe weather in multiple ways: -Download the WOKV App (Free in the App or Google Play Store) and record an Open Mic. Think of it like leaving a voice mail that we play back on the radio. -Share photos on Twitter or Facebook @WOKVNews. Use the #firstalertwx on Twitter. -Email weather reports and photos to news@wokv.com. -During wall-to-wall severe weather updates, call in live reports to 855-765-1045.
