NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) stations broadcast National Weather Service warnings, watches, and forecasts around-the-clock – free to everyone who tunes in.
As soon as a warning or watch is issued, an alert tone is sent over NWR to all receivers with tone capabilities – even those that may have muted them – activating any and all tone receivers with tone features that support it – known as Specific Area Message Encoding, or SAME.
FIPS Codes
The National Weather Service has developed county-specific codes for NOAA Weather Radio receivers equipped with decoding capability known as SAME decoding. When watches or warnings are issued, special broadcasting codes interrupt routine broadcasting by interrupting regular transmission and activating tone alarm, SAME equipped radios.
The code begins with a 0, followed by the State name and then County subdivisions – for instance Gem County is coded 005 while Tuolumne County starts off with 045.
If your SAME weather radio with coded reception supports FIPS codes, you can easily program it by entering them from this page. Specialized receivers are available at stores selling electronics. In addition, these receivers have been distributed to businesses and public facilities entrusted with public safety such as schools, hospitals, places of worship, nursing homes, offices factories shopping centers sports arenas etc. Additionally, Weather Alert Receivers which alert for all messages regardless of county transmissions can still be used as well.
SAME Codes
Starting in 1985, the NWS experimented with using special codes at the beginning and end of messages regarding life or property-threatening events to form Specialized Area Message Encoding (SAME). This system became part of their Continuous Radio Service system used to broadcast NOAA Weather Radio. SAME became automated in 1998.
SAME codes allow you to program your radio so it only responds to warnings and watches issued for a specific county, thus minimizing false alarms caused by events happening nearby.
Use of your NOAA weather radio is easy with SAME. Simply switch it on in radio mode, press and hold the MENU key for several seconds to enter setting mode, use the arrow keys to select your county code to program, then follow on-screen prompts for programming it. Upon completing programming your radio, press PROGRAM key to store these changes; usually service area or range is approximately 40 miles depending upon terrain, height of antennae transmitting antenna, quality of receiver device.
Alert Tone
NOAA operates a nationwide network of radio stations known as NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR). This all-hazards system broadcasts information about secondary hazards like earthquakes, volcanic activity, chemical spills, fires, 911 phone outages, AMBER child abduction alerts and terrorist attacks.
Before most warning and watch messages are transmitted, a 1050 Hz tone is broadcast to activate compatible receivers. This feature is especially helpful at night when the NWR signal may not be on. Many receivers can be set electronically so they receive this tone even if their speaker is muted.
Staff from local NWS offices used to record warning messages manually; now automated recording allows for faster delivery of short fused warnings, more frequent weather forecasts and climate summaries than could previously be achieved using manual recordings, and more frequent broadcasts of zone/lake/coastal water warnings and climate summaries than was ever possible before using manual recordings. A digital encoding system known as SAME (Specific Area Message Encoder) technology enables tones issued by NWR tones to be activated by specific counties/event codes/marine events than was ever possible using manual recordings alone.
Coverage
NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards network broadcasts National Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard alerts continuously day and night from its headquarters at NOAA of the Department of Commerce – known as “The Voice of the National Weather Service.”
NOAA Weather Radio Stations employ Specific Area Message Encoding to notify their listeners about emergencies in their area. This code allows NWR to interrupt regular programming during life-threatening incidents and broadcast an emergency message with an accompanying 1050Hz tone that activates receivers that automatically turn on speakers and sound the message.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration’s website contains an alphabetic listing of NOAA radio frequencies available across the US, along with coverage maps, SAME # county codes, transmitter lists by state, and coverage maps for each transmitter located near Sudlersville in Maryland – such as one that covers much of Pennsylvania’s Hibernia Park, West Chester, and Salem counties as well.
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