Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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It's OK, everyone — there's no weather emergency or alien invasion.

Tornado sirens accidentally went off around 6:10 a.m. Tuesday in Hennepin County, waking up (and confusing) countless residents and sending Twitter in a frenzy that the end was here. 

https://twitter.com/TooMuchSteve/status/719847571456327680

https://twitter.com/robertcyoung/status/719850387738636288

https://twitter.com/LuisinMinnesota/status/719850289059135488

https://twitter.com/poetsforprofit/status/719850320550064128

https://twitter.com/HennepinEM/status/719849461409652736


The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office said workers were doing some maintenance on the system when the tornado sirens accidentally sounded.


"The outdoor warning siren system is tested daily to ensure functionality. The system experienced a momentary computer hardware malfunction during the daily test. The system has since been repaired and all systems are operating normally," said a statement from the sheriff's office. 

Siren software malfunction, 70s ahead

 Two statewide drills are scheduled for Thursday at 1:45 p.m. and 6:55 p.m.

MPR News reporter Riham Feshir contributed to this report.

Weather and Climate News

Nancy Yang

Author

It's OK, everyone -- there's no weather emergency or alien invasion. An apparent malfunction caused tornado sirens to go off around 6:10 a.m.

MPR News host Tom Weber spoke with Major Jeff Storms from the Enforcement Services Bureau of the Hennepin County Sheriff's office about the alarm heard throughout Hennepin County this morning. 4/12/16

False alarm: Sirens go off in Hennepin County after 'malfunction'

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