If you have an app downloaded that uses National Weather Services alerts you might receive a test alert about a tsunami at or around 3 p.m. Eastern Time on August 20. This is just a routine communications test for the East and Gulf Coast states. There is nothing to worry about, there is no tsunami threat happening.

The National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) and coastal NWS offices are joining forces to make sure everything is in order and messages go through in case there is a tsunami warning along the East or Gulf Coast states in the future. The vast majority of us will not receive the message as test messages are often coded differently, but there are times when different partners might include test messages to be disseminated.

And in case you are wondering... yes, tsunamis can happen along the East and Gulf Coast. Meteotsunamis are also a thing. Check back here, were are working on a separate story explaining how these can also happen in this region of the country.