Johnson County warning sirens activated by funnel cloud report

A report of a funnel cloud triggered the activation of the outdoor warning sirens in Johnson County early Saturday morning. A line of thunderstorms was moving through the county at about 1 a.m. when the sirens went off, however Johnson County was not under any sort of severe weather warning.

“I was told that a weather spotter spotted a funnel cloud,” said Lonny Pulkrabek, Johnson County Sheriff. Pulkrabek said he believes that weather spotter was a police officer.

Pulkrabek said it “kind of difficult” to determine when to sound the sirens based on eye witness sightings. “Because maybe they are trained and maybe they are not,” Pulkrabek said. “If they are not and then we don't set it off bad things could happen so I am sure you see the difficulty.”

KCRG-TV9 First Alert Storm Team Chief Meteorologist Joe Winters said the National Weather Service did not issue any watches or warnings for the Johnson County area during last night's storms. And, National Weather Service Doppler radar did not indicate any rotation in the storms at that time.