What Time is the Nationwide Emergency Alert Test in Colorado?

We live in a noisy fast-paced world. Imagine if everyone in the United States was listening to the same noise at the same time.

According to the Pew Research Center, 97% of Americans own a cellphone of some kind. As of today, the current population of the United States of America is 340,384,005, according to the Worldometer. You don't have to be super great at math to know; that is a lot of cell phones.

Cell phones, TVs, and radios will all be getting noisy during a planned nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. It will be "only a test," but it sure will be a large one.

When will the nationwide emergency alert test happen in Colorado?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System on Wednesday, October 4. That distinctive alert tone is set to happen from 12:20 p.m. to 12:50 p.m. in Colorado.

Why is a nationwide test necessary?

As much as no one wants to think about it, there may be a time when the entire United States needs to be alerted of an emergency, a natural disaster, or an attack at a national level.

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

This is not the first time one of these tests has been issued. There have been several nationwide tests in the last several years.

The official press release from FEMA says:

The purpose of the Oct. 4 test is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level. In case the Oct. 4 test is postponed due to widespread severe weather or other significant events, the back-up testing date is Oct. 11.

If these kinds of alerts annoy you or scare you, there are ways to disable them on your mobile devices.