June 2 Wireless Emergency Alert Test: What to Know

If you receive a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) test message today, June 2, it's completely legitimate—and only a test!

CRESA is conducting a WEA test to help us better understand how alerts are delivered to mobile devices in targeted areas. This test will only reach phones that have Local Test Alerts enabled in their device settings, so if you don't receive it, there's no need to worry. It doesn't mean anything is wrong with your phone or service.

WEAs are short emergency messages sent directly to compatible mobile phones within a specific area. They're a little different from Public Alerts, which are broader informational messages that may go out through additional channels.

Why we use WEAs carefully

When CRESA sends a WEA, we want you to be able to trust it. That means we reserve them for the most serious, time-sensitive life-safety threats, so that when one reaches you, you know it's something to act on right away.

You may also receive WEAs from other agencies from time to time. The National Weather Service sends weather-related alerts, for example, and Washington State Patrol sends AMBER and Silver Alerts.

We're also mindful of over-alerting. If alerts come too frequently or don't feel relevant, people naturally start tuning them out — and that's the last thing we want in a real emergency. We also pay close attention to "overspray" (sometimes called "bouncing"), which happens when an alert reaches people outside the intended area. We work closely with law enforcement, fire agencies, and other response partners to make sure incident commanders have the right information to choose the best alerting tool for each situation.

Small test areas

Today's test won't cover the whole county. We've selected two smaller areas specifically to help us evaluate overspray and alert geolocation performance. CERT volunteers will be stationed both inside and outside the alert zones to help us measure how accurately the alert reaches its intended audience.

To keep the test conditions as clean as possible we're not sharing the exact test areas publicly in advance.

If you do receive the test alert, we'd love your help! Just click the link in the message and fill out the short form. Your feedback goes a long way in helping us analyze results and improve how alerts perform across different devices and carriers.

A big thank you

We're so grateful to the CERT volunteers who are giving their time to support this effort. Their help on the ground gives us real-world insight into how Wireless Emergency Alerts perform, and that directly supports improvements to emergency alerting across our entire community.

WEAs are just one part of how we share critical information with the public, and tests like this one help us keep doing it better. Thank you for being part of making that possible.