Ward County Emergency Management has announced that, beginning May 11, Minot Central Dispatch will begin running regularly scheduled audible tests for the Minot Area Outdoor Warning System as well as the Outdoor Warning Sirens within Ward County.

These tests will be run on the second and last Monday of each month at 9:30 a.m. The audible tests will continue through the summer months and are scheduled to conclude in October.

There will be one variation to the regular schedule in May, when the last Monday of the month falls on Memorial Day. To avoid any interruption to the Memorial Day ceremonies on May 25, the test will be run on Tuesday, May 26, at 9:30 am.

During the regularly scheduled tests, residents will hear 10-second high / low tones followed by a voice message given over the public address system. The tones and message will be repeated three times.