Safeguard your family with an NOAA weather radio and stay informed instantly of fast-moving hazardous weather or civil emergencies when other sources cannot.
NOAA radios provide National Weather Service warnings, watches and forecasts as well as lifesaving Homeland Security alerts and natural disaster information from the Emergency Alert System 24 hours a day. Furthermore, NOAA radios also broadcast AMBER Alerts that come directly from this source.
Weather Alerts
NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts National Weather Service warnings, watches, and forecasts directly to specific counties or parts of a state via tone-alert NOAA weather radio receivers equipped with tone alert capabilities – lifesaving messages designed to save lives! These important alerts can be heard by anyone using an audio alert receiver capable of receiving coded alerts from NOAA Weather Radio or another tone-alert receiver equipped with tone alert capabilities.
NOAA Weather Radio can also serve to relay public safety and homeland security alerts issued by the federal government, such as AMBER Alerts or 911 telephone outages. Furthermore, its network serves as a backup system for disseminating civil emergency messages through cable television systems as well as Emergency Alert System (EAS) on commercial radio stations.
Before the late 1990s, NOAA Weather Radio broadcasting featured human operators voices recorded at local NWS offices. To reduce costs and speed delivery speed, many stations implemented Console Replacement System (CRS), more commonly referred to by its nickname of Paul. CRS significantly cut recording and broadcast time from NWS offices into broadcast cycles.
Emergency Alerts
NWR is the nation’s only continuous broadcast system that transmits National Weather Service warnings & watches, local forecasts and non-weather emergency information directly from your nearest NWS office around the clock. If a life-threatening hazard is detected, NWS will interrupt NWR programming with a digital signal containing an alarm tone alert tone which activates all weather radio receivers within its coverage area that have this feature.
SAME stands for Specific Area Message Encoder and contains information such as type, affected counties and an expiration time for hazardous events. Specialized receivers built into automobiles and handheld devices can be programmed to only receive SAME-coded messages; standalone weather radios as well as general multiband/function radios featuring weather bands are widely available at electronics or radio equipment stores.
NWR collaborates closely with Federal, State and local public officials as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency in providing non-weather related national security statements, natural disaster information, environmental/public safety announcements (such as chemical releases or oil spills), emergency preparedness messages ( such as AMBER Alerts). Each NWS office conducts weekly tests of its public alert capability at predetermined days and times.
Weather Forecasts
The National Weather Service operates a nationwide radio network to deliver climate information directly from its offices around the country, such as warnings, watches and forecasts to you 24 hours a day. Furthermore, this broadcast system serves as the sole federally operated broadcast system capable of disseminating life- and property-threatening emergency messages using Emergency Alert System broadcasts.
Routine programming typically includes current conditions, detailed weather summaries for your area and short term forecasts of significant events within 3-6 hours. In coastal offices this segment also often covers hazards like rip currents.
As soon as a severe weather warning is issued, coded information interrupts regular broadcast and activates tone or SAME alert equipped radios to sound an alert tone or SAME-alert sounder. Not only are these radios used by individuals at home; they’re also utilized in businesses, government buildings, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, churches and other community gathering spaces such as vehicles or boats.
Weather Warnings
NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards network offers official warnings, watches, forecasts and hazard information 24 hours a day tailored to your area by local National Weather Service offices. As it works in tandem with the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Alert System you will also hear civil emergency messages (such as AMBER alerts for missing children), national security statements and natural disaster updates.
Newer weather radio receivers allow users to customize their radio’s monitoring and warning messages for specific geographic regions (counties or portions thereof), using a special digital code known as SAME message code – click here for codes!
Due to buffering and network delays, audio may arrive several seconds late at your receiver during severe weather events. There may also be temporary loss of service for NOAA weather radio.
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