COLUMBUS, Ind. – A cold air funnel was spotted by first responders in Bartholomew County on Tuesday, just north of the airport toward the Taylorsville area. Bartholomew County Emergency Management (BCEM) says the sighting led dispatch to follow protocol and activate the county’s sirens. At the time this occurred, BCEM had not yet received the Special Weather Statement from the National Weather Service (NWS) alerting to the potential for cold air funnels.
According to the NWS, cold air funnels are associated with thunderstorms or showers that form in deep, cold-core, large-scale, low-pressure systems. NWS describes the funnel clouds as smooth and narrow, and only last for a few minutes. They rarely reach the ground and only cause minor damage. The threat of these funnel clouds ended on Tuesday.
Officials at Bartholomew County Emergency Management say they understand that there was a lot of confusion as to why the sirens were going off, especially when many people were seeing sunshine and no threat of rain or storms. The BCEM team is reviewing what occurred and looking for any improvements that can be made for the future.
