Weather Preparedness and Response

• Severe Weather Preparedness
• Campus Severe Weather Damage Report
• Winter Weather Preparedness
• Winter Weather Resources
• Current Weather at A-State
• StormReady University
• Watch Our StormReady Announcement Video
• Learn About StormReady Communities
• StormReady Reaccreditation
• Extreme Heat Graphic

Severe Weather Preparedness

To view our Severe Weather Preparedness Tips, click here: Severe Weather Preparedness Tips

To view the Severe Weather Resource LinkTree, click here: A-State Severe Weather LinkTree

To view the Severe Weather Preparedness Video, click here: A-State Weather Preparedness Video

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Preparedness Tools

A-State Alerts are the primary way for campus emergency officials to communicate weather emergencies. These text messsges to your mobile device include class cancellations, tornado warnings, all-clear statements, and other forms of hazard communication. These alerts are specific to the physical A-State campus.

Sign up for A-State Alerts:
1. Log on to my.AState
2. Click on “Emergency Alert Setup”
3. Enter up to 3 phone numbers
4. Hit confirm

National Weather Service Memphis issues all weather related watches and warnings for campus. Craighead County and the city of Jonesboro are part of the NWS Memphis coverage area.

• Twitter: @NWS Memphis
• Facebook: US National Weather Service Memphis Tennessee

Wireless Emergency Alerts: WEA alerts are sent via phone towers, and broadcast on mobile devices in certain situations (such as a tornado warning). These are issued whenever the tower the phone is using is located within the warning polygon. Check your phone settings to ensure emergency alerts are on.

NOAA Weather Radio: These radios can be programmed to your county area and can also be programmed by the user to only broadcast the types of alerts you want to be notified about. They are relatively inexpensive (around $35) and offer great redundancy since they are not reliant on internet and have a battery backup.

What To Do:

Tornado Watch: When a tornado watch is issued, it means all ingredients are present for potential tornadoes. However, at this point, the ingredients have not yet combined.

1. Monitor weather using mobile weather apps and the National Weather Service.
2. Identify where you’ll be, where you’ll go and what you’ll do if severe weather approaches
3. As weather approaches, move to safe areas. For campus, the designated safe area is the Reng Student Union. Note: the window of opportunity to change buildings is during a watch. Once a warning is issued, it may not be safe to leave a building.

Tornado Warning: When a tornado warning is issued, it means ingredients have started combining and rotation is visible. This rotation may be on the ground (tornado), but it may also be rotating within the clouds (funnel cloud). Rotation is often identified using radar (radar indicated), which is why tornado warnings sometimes don’t produce a tornado. However, if a warning is issued, it means that rotation is visible and has the potential of touching down.

1. You should not move buildings – seek shelter at the building you are
   currently in.
2. If driving, find the nearest sturdy building to seek shelter. Do not stay in the car, under an overpass or try and outrun the storm. Concrete culverts can also be a shelter point.
3. Monitor via radio/mobile devices until the storm passes. Do not leave the shelter until you verify the threat has passed.

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The difference between a watch and warning, pizza style:

Pizza Watch	Pizza Warning
All the ingredients to make a pizza are present.	We're having pizza!

Campus Severe Weather Damage Report

To view the damage reporting form, click here: Severe Weather Damage Report

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This form is used to report storm damage and any available documentation (such as pictures) to the Arkansas State University Office of Emergency Management. For any questions, contact Wyatt Reed at wreed@astate.edu or (870) 972-3352.

 

These reports do not substitute the need to report major damage to appropriate personnel, such as University Housing or University Police.

Winter Weather Preparedness

Winter Weather Resources

To view our Winter Weather Preparedness Video, click here: A-State Disaster Preparedness Video

To view our Winter Weather LinkTree, click here: A-State Winter Weather LinkTree

Current Weather at A-State

StormReady University

Watch Our StormReady Announcement Video

To view the StormReady video, click here: A-State StormReady Announcement

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Learn About StormReady Communities

To learn more about StormReady, click here: StormReady Universities

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StormReady Reaccreditation

To view the StormReady Reaccreditation Announcement, click here: 2025 StormReady Reaccreditation

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A-State Recognized as 'StormReady' Campus by National Weather Service

08/18/2025

JONESBORO – Just as students prepare to arrive at Arkansas State University for the start of the fall semester, the Office of Emergency Management is announcing its redesignation as a StormReady campus community.     “The National Weather Service (NWS) in Memphis recognized our capabilities as being among the best in the program,” said Wyatt Reed, emergency management and occupational health specialist.    “It shows that A-State is better prepared when severe weather impacts Northeast Arkansas and has accomplished this recognition through advanced planning, education and awareness,” said Todd Beal, warning coordination meteorologist at the NWS in Memphis.   Reed said the university works to prepare campus staff, provide situational awareness, and decision-making support through weather briefings. Through these actions, they can accurately respond to severe weather hazards.    “A-State is one of 290 StormReady universities in the country. There are approximately 5,300 universities and colleges in the United States, meaning only roughly 5.5% hold this designation,” said Reed.    To receive this specialized placement, A-State must meet several requirements. These include having an established hazardous weather plan with different response actions and thresholds for severe weather.   That plan has to be shared with and available to staff, faculty and students so they are fully prepared and ready for possible threats. This designation will expire in August of 2029.    Students can sign up for emergency alerts through Pack Portal. The alerts are specific to the A-State campus. Students can add up to three phone numbers that can receive alerts.    “Another part of the designation requirements is assuring adequate methods are in place for receiving and relaying hazardous weather messages from the National Weather Service,” added Beal.    “It requires that we host multiple awareness events across our campus community to raise awareness of the hazards we face and the responses we can take individually and as a community to prepare, respond, and recover. We must demonstrate that we have a robust emergency notification system in place to warn our community in an accurate and timely manner,” Reed continued.     A meteorologist from the NWS reviews the procedures on campus and conducts a site visit to assess capabilities. Reed explained that this four-year certification shows the ever-renewing effort that A-State has to keep the campus community in a constant state of preparedness.    “Our office maintains a close working relationship with local broadcast meteorology as well as the NWS in both Memphis and Little Rock,” Reed added.    A-State partners with local, state and internal agencies to review severe weather plans and ensure that lines of communication are open.     “Severe weather usually includes rapidly evolving dynamics and timing. However, our office monitors trends from NWS and other data sources. While this is ongoing, we disseminate this information in briefings to campus leadership and key departments for their awareness,” said Reed.     A-State sends out monthly tests of the Emergency Alert System used on campus to communicate with students, faculty and staff. In times of actual emergencies, such as severe weather, this system is used to communicate vital information.    "We maintain two storm-centric resource centers that provide real-time, up-to-date weather information and emergency actions to protect life and property,” Reed added.    The university maintains a list of severe weather resources that is always available and shared via social media ahead of severe weather outbreaks.     “Preparedness is a community-wide effort. Without the support of our staff, external agencies, campus leadership, and most importantly, our students, we would not be able to build an environment that meets the criteria of a StormReady community,” said Reed.

Extreme Heat Graphic