There will be a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System at 1:00 pm CST today. It is a test. Repeat, test. Test. Test.
Even though it will interrupt all major TV and radio broadcasts, on every channel, and the screen shot may not say it is a test, it is one. This is a much bigger deal than the monthly EAS tests at midnight, siren tests, and NOAA Weather Radio alert tests on Wednesdays.
FYI.
Many are floating conspiracy theories about the government taking over communications, why are they doing it, Big Brother and all that. Honestly, I think they are doing this because they want to make sure the new national EAS system works. There was an envelope lying next to the NOAA Weather Radio console for years (whole time I was at NWS) that read “OPEN ONLY IN EVENT OF ATTACK WARNING”. We never had to open it, thank goodness, but it was there in case. They are testing for the just in case.
