Better than Swiss Cuckoos! SITREP Was staying nearby downtown in the Financial District / Union Square hoods in the Wyndham hotel for the week when wanding up Grant Avenue in Chinatown I hear the "Tuesday Noon Siren" go off. SETUP The Tuesday Noon Siren has become one of those community events that is based on a serious effort to be "at the ready" to broadcast important community information should a local / national disaster take place and there is an important need to disseminate information. Admittedly, it almost seems pointless in this day & age of cell phones and "news in your palm" via smartphones. But what people forget is that sometimes these "hard-wired" networks to pass information that are supported with back-up generators and independent energy-sustainability may be the only way in an emergency to get information out on a broad-scale "town square" or "herald" effort when the cell towns are town and the power grid has died. KITSCHY COMMUNITY HIJACK In the meantime, the Tuesday Noon Siren has become it's own sort of entity and "local character" that people look forward to hearing and event tracking time to. It's also example of when a utilitarian / emergency system starts to take on a life of it's own. I'm kinda reminded of the Interstate Highway system that President Eisenhower established in the 50s as a means to transport military hardware such as tanks and military vehicles quickly throughout the country. And yet, for example, we all use I-80 and I-5 to take us to our vacation destinations now. SIREN GOES OFF Humorously, there's a video on YouTube already that shares "the excitement" of the klaxon horn going off. It's pretty sedate, but cool nonetheless as you hear th klaxon horn, the emergency announcement in English, then followed by the emergency announcement in Chinese: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o3sEVVVTVo&feature=youtu.be THE LOWDOWN One of those totally random quirky, yet interesting local events, that captures a moment of fun in general, but serves a vital community purpose specifically. read more

San Francisco Outdoor Warning System - The Tuesday Noon Emergency Broadcasting Siren - The Klaxon Horns at the Ready! - Public Services & Government Near Me - San Francisco, California

This is from my dog, Gus. (We live very close to one of the sirens. BTW love the hours posted here!) "Every Tuesday at noon I have to do the same thing. The siren comes on, and I wait until the voices in English and Chinese. As they're talking, I howl and howl and howl. I am translating it into dog language, since the City is not considerate enough to realize how many dogs there are and how we'd like some communications ourselves. I mean, what if there were a tsumani and we decided it was time to head for the beach for a swim? How would we know that was a bad move? Fortunately I dabble in English so I know what they're saying (even though my people barely can understand it) and I communicate it to my fellow dogs. Do I get any thanks from the City? No! Or from my people? No! They just laugh at me and take videos. But I know the dogs of my block appreciate me. I get lots of pee-mail on our tree telling me so." read more

San Francisco Outdoor Warning System - Every Tuesday at 12 I howl to tell all my dog friends who don't understand English or Chinese that once again it is just a drill. - Public Services & Government Near Me - San Francisco, California

When I moved back to the city, this used to freak me out. I even had really weird dreams about air raids, etc because of it. Now, it's just the background soundtrack to existence. It's one of those quirky little parts of SF history, and nice to see a little background on it! https://www.kqed.org/news/11696153/7-things-to-know-about-san-franciscos-tuesday-noon-siren Here's the map of all the outdoor warning system sirens, for fun! https://sfdem.org/sites/default/files/FileCenter/Documents/1256-siren_map-10-25-11.pdf read more

Also known as Ol' Reliable or the Convention Shaker-upper, the SF Outdoor Warning System is a quintessential part of SF life. Blasting your eardrums every Tuesday at noon sharp, you can expect to hear the sirens to come on and remind you of your presence in San Francisco. It's always funny to see visitors' reactions, especially those in huge hordes around the Moscone Center in SoMa. Tons of people look around in an alarmed fashion with no idea what's going on. Cheap entertainment on tap every week! Honestly though, I don't mind it too much. If anything, it adds just another thing to the growing list of things people are stunned by when I respond "Oh yeah, that's entirely normal. Welcome to SF." As a final bonus, a way to verify if this is just a test or not is to, of course, check Twitter. @SFSiren WAAAAAAAAAAAA read more

Legit. I was there when it went off, right across from a park full of old folks gambling. Not a dice roll or card fluttered because it was just a test. But had the siren not sounded, you know I was ready with my phone to put out my own alert broadcast. Whoomp! There it is! Whoomp! There it is! Whoomp! There it is! Whoomp! There it is! http://youtu.be/Z-FPimCmbX8?t=17s read more

My Mom and I have had a competition since 2005: The first one to text the other after the siren goes off, wins! The rules do not change because Mom is in a meeting or I am in another state. The loser usually replies with some form of the poop emoji out of frustration. read more

My son and I have had a competition since 2005: the first one to text the other after the siren goes off, wins! The rules do not change because he is in another state or I am teaching or in a meeting. I often have my after lunch students come to class and say "who won!?". It's usually me. We don't remember why we started this competition, but it keeps us connected on a weekly basis, at least. read more

I am already feeling the siren shortage intensely. The wailing ooooOOoooo punctuated my Tuesdays and gave them meaning. Giving 5 stars in the hopes that it will return sooner than planned. read more

This siren could be great if it was on a Wednesday or a Thursday or something, but Tuesday? Come on. With so many other siren options in the area, this one is really not worth your time. read more

Without Brandon S to echo it, this siren serves only as a reminder of the hole left in my heart by his departure. Why must you play with my emotions like that, Tuesday Noon Siren? Why?? read more

Thank you San Francisco Outdoor Warning System for simultaneously promising to keep us safe from future impending disasters, and alerting me to the arrival of lunchtime every Tuesday at noon. Without your help, many Tuesdays I would likely be alerted to fill my belly with food, not by a voice sounding strangely reminiscent of James Earl Jones, but by the rumblings of my own stomach. See you next Tuesday. read more

This outdoor warning system isn't loud enough. With modern windows in 140 New Montgomery we can barely hear it, and have to almost be listening specifically for it. The warning system has room for improvement, but gets 3 stars for the one person that hears it and starts the call for Tuesday Noon Siren! read more

It's loud and very punctual. Great Siren.

The outdoor warning system just went off couple times on Sunday at 3:30pm. I was outside in the backyard and the voice was so muffed that I barely hearing something like, "attention, attention..." and then something like "emergency..." but could not understand what it is being said. Now I am worried that it could be a real emergency but I cannot verify. My kid said that she thinks it said "it is not an emergency". The system sucks if you give out warning and people cannot tell what is being said. I am sure they can design a better system with a little better sound quality so at least people can understand that message instead of creating panic for no reason. read more

An important part for anyone who been live in or who was San Francisco native (actually are much more harder to find these days) should all know about the system and how in effect our life cute yet annoying way however it's all for the "safer" ! read more

The SFOWS (aka Tuesday Noon Siren) did not fail to disappoint on this fine New Years Day...marking a great start to 2019!

High quality establishment! They have a "be back soon!" sign, but it's for 2 years from now...weird.

If you have a weird job with off hours, if you've been partying since Thursday afternoon and you're not quite sure what's going on any more, if you have accepted a lot of foodstuffs from kindly folk that may, as it turns out have been magic and/or special, Tuesday Noon Siren has you covered. No matter where you are in the city, you will suddenly know the exact date and time. It's genius! read more

The alarm goes off every time a woman is spotted in SOMA. It's a welcome relief from writing our food delivery apps, but it definitely needs to be ported to swift 3.0. read more

Nothing reminds me that it's Tuesday quite like the blaring klaxon of the outdoor warning system. Always on schedule at noon, it's a race to check in amongst my coworkers. read more

Near the top of the Buena Vista area, it's easy to hear the siren on Tuesday at noon, but the voice that follows is very difficult to decipher - - it sounds a bit like a man who might be yelling underwater in slow motion. Let's hope we're not expected to actually DO something in response to the "voice." read more

This siren system is pretty darn good. The tone they use is indeed abusive to the speakers on the sirens but they are low pitched and carry much farther than standard tones. The sound of it is very creepy and haunting, just like the old STL-10s they used to have. The sirens do have voice and tone, and don't seem that loud from 100 feet away. I wouldn't be surprised if a few of these got replaced soon, as cities with these same sirens (the brand of these sirens is named ATI) down here in Texas, are replacing them due to speakers blowing and radios malfunctioning. This is a great system, they have outstanding coverage, however there is always room for improvement. Again, these are OUTDOOR WARNING SIRENS. Do not expect to hear them indoors. For a video of an outdoor siren in San Francisco, click the following link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nAV0BNaOCAI read more

It was late morning on a Tuesday when I was eating lunch with my friend and her kids at the Cheesecake Factory in Union Square when the Noon Siren went off. All the tourists and my friend looked alarmed like "Uh, what's happening?? Is the city falling down??". As I explained to my friend what it was and that it occurs every Tuesday at noon, I realized that everyone at the tables nearby were listening to me with some relief. Funny. read more

This a siren and we check into it. If this isn't nice, I don't know what is. So it goes.

Always on time and always eager to let the world know of its grandeur.

I like this missile test because it is loud enough to hear but not really *distracting* per se. It makes me feel like the city itself is looking out for my well-being. Despite all the trash and needles and deplorable living conditions forced upon victims of the mass tech influx, at least we will be made aware when there is a natural disaster that would be otherwise undetectable. read more

Ever since I've moved to San Francisco, I've enjoyed hearing the Siren every Tuesday. It's lunchtime and it's not an emergency! And it's there, just in there is one. https://www.kqed.org/news/11696153/7-things-to-know-about-san-franciscos-tuesday-noon-siren read more

Apparently San Francisco went through one of its recurring time warps recently. This one was only five minutes backwards, though.

I am by no means a local of San Francisco. Upon moving here I was really nervous about the unsettling tensions recently rising in the nations to the west (New Zealand, Japan, Australia). I was very happy to hear upon moving here that San Francisco was prepared for this and regularly ran drills to keep all it's citizens on their toes every Tuesday at noon. Let's be real, if you were to be attacked by dive bombing kangaroos from Australia; Tuesday at noon would be the most opportune time for this as they think we all celebrate tea time too. My only complaint is that while this system is audible throughout the entire city, I cannot help but notice that the actual words uttered over the warning system are not of higher fidelity. I always have to decipher whether or not "This is only a test." Sometimes if the wind is blowing (which I find it normally does in San Francisco), I can easily mistaken the spoken message to be a large firetruck (which are also very common throughout SF) that needs to get by. Sometimes I can't fully comprehend anything said in the message, so I instinctively search the sky for parachuting kangaroos or look to the sea for a fleet of scuba dingos. So far my misunderstandings have been false alarms but I still find a lot of safety in this system. Thank you San Francisco for always looking out for us with this very important safety system. read more

comforting to know this siren exists; not so comforting to hear the incomprehensible voice that follows