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By DONALD MOTTERN | Staff Writer

PELHAM – Pelham residents enjoying their days at Pelham City Park and its surrounding complex can feel a little safer thanks to the successful installation of the Perry weather alert system which was announced on Wednesday, Aug. 14 by the Pelham Parks and Recreation Department.

With installation having been completed the day prior on Aug. 13, the new Perry weather alert system now allows Pelham residents and visitors to the park to have peace of mind and know that they will be made aware of approaching severe weather.

Specifically, the Perry weather system is designed to provide timely alerts for lightning activity that occurs within an eight-mile radius of the park. Should lightning activity be detected, a siren will now sound for 25 seconds to indicate the presence of lightning in the park’s vicinity.

Those sirens will project sound up to 1,500 feet in every direction and ensure that every citizen in the park and the surrounding complex is aware of the situation.

In those instances, a 30-minute countdown clock will begin following each detected lightning strike. That clock will reset every time a new strike is detected. Once the timer reaches zero, activities at the park will be allowed to resume in accordance with current safety procedures.

To signal the all clear, the system will emit three noticeable beeps as an indication that the alert has expired.

Due to the coverage area of the sirens, residents in surrounding neighborhoods are likely to hear the warnings. However, city officials remind Pelham residents that these sirens are strictly meant to indicate lightning strikes and to provide safety information for those utilizing the park. The sirens will never be used to indicate tornado warnings.

The city of Pelham completely phased out its use of tornado sirens in 2018 and currently utilizes electronic, cell-phone and weather radio methods to notify its residents during severe weather events.

According to the Pelham Parks and Recreation Department, signs detailing the new system will be posted around Pelham City Park. Perry, the company supplying the alert system, will also produce a QR-code link to a website allowing park visitors to monitor weather conditions in real-time.

The city of Pelham officially entered into its contract with Perry Weather on May 20 when the Pelham City Council passed a resolution approving the city’s contract with the weather alert company. The project was a planned for and approved element of the city’s budget for 2024.