Weather
Radio
NOAA Weather Radio is a good way to receive the most
up-to-date weather information, including watches
and warnings. It provides continuous broadcasts of
the latest weather information from local National
Weather Service offices. Weather messages are repeated
every 4 to 6 minutes and are routinely updated every
1 to 3 hours or more frequently in rapidly changing
local weather or if a nearby hazardous environmental
condition exists. Most stations operate 24 hours daily.
National
Weather Service NOAA Weather Radio
NOAA
Weather Radio receivers can be purchased at many retail
stores that sell electronic merchandise, including
stand-alone electronic retail outlets, electronics
departments within department stores, and some drug
stores. NOAA Weather Radio receivers can also be purchased
through some mail order catalogs In addition, NOAA
Weather Radio receivers are often sold in boat and
marine accessory businesses since they are popular
in the marine community. These are just some of the
places that NOAA Weather Radio receivers can be purchased.
NOAA
Weather Radio broadcasts National Weather Service
(NWS) warnings, watches, forecasts, and other non-weather
related hazard information 24 hours a day. During
an emergency, NWS forecasters interrupt routine weather
programming and send out a special tone that activates
weather radios in the listening area. Weather radios
equipped with a special alarm tone feature can sound
an alert and give you immediate information about
a life-threatening situation.
NOAA
Weather Radio broadcasts warnings and post-event information
for all types of hazards - weather (such as tornadoes,
hurricanes, and floods), natural (such as earthquakes,
forest fires, and volcanic activity),technological
(such as chemical releases, oil spills, nuclear power
plant emergencies, etc.), and national emergencies.
Working with other Federal agencies and the Federal
Communications Commission's (FCC) Emergency Alert
System (EAS), NOAA Weather Radio is an all-hazards
radio network, making it the single source for the
most comprehensive weather and emergency information
available to the public.
Life-threatening
weather emergency messages are alerted on NOAA Weather
Radio. Many of those same weather-related emergency
messages are also broadcast via the Emergency Alert
System.
Non-Weather
Related Emergency Messages
Local
National Weather Service (NWS) offices alert and broadcast
non-weather related emergency messages on NOAA Weather
Radio provided to them directly by local and state
government officicals. For non-weather emergencies,
the system is activated by the NWS at the request
of local and/or state officials. The NWS does not
initiate the contact nor the message. When a non-weather
emergency occurs, and local or state officials wish
to broadcast a message about it on NOAA Weather Radio,
the officials provide text information about the hazard
and the appropriate response directly to the local
NWS offices to alert and broadcast the emergency message
on NOAA Weather Radio. NWS offices have set up pre-arranged
agreements to facilitate and speed the process, since
minutes and seconds make a difference. In most areas,
the local and/or state office of emergency management
or preparedness (possibly civil defense, police or
mayor/commissioner) is the agency responsible for
establishing linkages necessary for dissemination
on systems such as the Emergency Alert System and
NOAA Weather Radio.