Hey, take heart, you weren't the first to make a big boo-boo:
http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2010/09/cod...

I'm curious which cell phone provider accidentally sent the notice as all of them didn't. I have AT&T and didn't get the warning on my iPhone through them which means AT&T did do what they were supposed to do by not forwarding the signal as NWS. instructed them to do last week.

But WMTV Channel 15 who I subscribe to for weather alerts did send me a text with the warning. They were the ones in error. I knew something strange was happening when my weather app and radio weren't going off.

thought I would have to take shelter in the snowfort

They just burned the whole system. Now when there is a real emergency a lot of people will think its just the system malfunctioning again or "test" as they called it.

I was wondering about that Tornado Warning,take cover immediately message on my phone. I had thought we were expecting a lot of snow as I had checked my weather apps earlier.

It was an internal test that was never meant to go outside the NWS walls. They were preparing for when the REAL testing starts for Weather Awareness Week in April. There is a code they send with the test that tells the digital subscribers (like the emergency service the cell phones use) whether it is an operational (real) warning or a test. They (NWS) accidentally sent the wrong code.
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So, yes... the people at NWS are human and made a mistake.

Wow...what a failure of a system. It never showed up on my phone and there were several people all concerned wondering what is going on.. maybe they should say in the message that it is a test?

I got the warning and ignored it. I just assumed that it was some scam trying to sell me something.
I have no problem, though with the NWS sending me valid warnings and would certainly want to know if a "real" tornado was heading my way.
The key word here is "valid", by which I mean accurate and timely. I do not want a warning that something "may" happen two days from now!

Why would you ignore it???? It was a test and it worked, I got it on my phone. Anything that gives you an extra few minutes to get to cover is a GOOD thing! It is pretty obvious when it is not a true warning, most of us are smart enough to know when the conditions are right for a tornado!

Yet another reason to ignore this system.

It certainly worked. Lots of excitement on a Monday morning!