Wilkes County got the first real test of its severe weather warning system Tuesday evening as a tornado warning was announced for a funnel cloud that had been spotted both on land and on radar coming from the southeast.

Just before 6 p.m. a tornado warning was issued for Wilkes County by the National Weather Service, and the county's new weather alert radio broadcast the signal throughout the area, with tornado sirens sounding soon after.

Deputy EMA Director Jerry Hackney broadcast the tornado warning to all police, deputies, fireand first responders, instructing them to report the state of the weather from their locations scattered through the county. Reports of a few trees down on the road near Tignall came in first, then a first responder near Rayle reported seeing a dark cloud over Tignall.

A few minutes later, Deputy Greg Rogers, on Jane Hill Road near Tignall, reported heavy rain and wind, then hail so big his windows were in danger.

At the first alert, Wilkes EMS Director J. Blake Thompson sent his medical units to stage near the projected path of the storm, ready to move into action if the tornado touched down. EMS crews reported extremely high winds in the Tyrone area that shook their unit, and others reported blinding rainfall and high wind.

By 6:25, however, it became obvious that the storm had passed without significantlytouching down or causing damage. Wilkes County's new weather alert system, along with the severe weather plans of both the Emergency Management Agency and the Emergency Medical Service, were given an early-season battle test and passed.