National Test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) Wednesday, October 3, 2018

On Wednesday, October 3rd at 1:18 PM CDT, 12:18 PM MDT, FEMA and the FCC will send a TEST Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) message to nearly all wireless devices in the United States.

The test was previously scheduled for Thursday, September 20th.

IMPORTANT: This is a "Presidential Alert". You can not turn off a Presidential Alert. You CAN NOT "opt out" of the test either.

What This Means For You: If your phone is turned on, within range of an active cell tower and whose wireless provider participates in WEA, the phone should be capable of receiving the message. This means just about every phone at your work place will receive the text at 1:18 PM CDT (10/3), which will likely set off an audible alarm for a short time.

The message header will be "Presidential Alert". The message text will be: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

NOTE: The National Weather Service has nothing to do with this test. This test will not trigger NOAA Weather Radios.

Again, on Wednesday, October 3rd at 1:18 PM CDT, 12:18 PM MDT, a "Presidential Alert" will be send to nearly all wireless devices in the United States.

BROADCASTERS: At 1:20 PM CDT on the same day, an EAS test will be sent. The EAS message will say:

“THIS IS A TEST of the National Emergency Alert System. This system was developed by broadcast and cable operators in voluntary cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, and local authorities to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency an official message would have followed the tone alert you heard at the start of this message. A similar wireless emergency alert test message has been sent to all cell phones nationwide. Some cell phones will receive the message; others will not. No action is required.”

The link below takes you to the official FEMA information release about the test.

https://www.fema.gov/emergency-alert-test