With the onset of Texas Severe Weather Season, residents in the counties surrounding Richland Springs (about 30 miles south of Brownwood) and Junction, Texas, can now stay on top of storm activity with a direct link to forecasters. NOAA Weather Radio, "The Voice of the National Weather Service," is a live 24-hour source of weather forecasts and warnings broadcast directly from Weather Service offices.

Two new transmitters have been installed at Junction and Richland Springs, Texas, and are now broadcasting information from the San Angelo Weather Forecast Office, according to Meteorologist in Charge Shirley Matejka.

"This is a great success story for the community," Matejka said. "The Lower Colorado River Authority has now purchased six transmitters in its partnership with the National Weather Service. We are very excited about what this means to the community and are extremely grateful to the LCRA.

"This expansion significantly increases our ability to reach the community directly with vital warnings. When you don't have a radio or TV turned on, having a seven-band NOAA Weather Radio receiver with an alarm helps you protect your family, yourself and your property," Matejka said.

Residents in and around Junction - including those in Menard, and Kimble counties - can tune in to WWG93 162.475 MHz. Residents in and around Richland Springs - including those in Brown, Coleman, McCullough, Mills and San Saba counties - can tune in to WWG94 162.525 MHz.

NOAA Weather Radio is "The Voice of the National Weather Service," but in recent months the sound of the voice has changed. Automation, which allows Weather Service forecast offices to speed critical weather information from advanced workstations directly to the growing number of Weather Radio transmitters, makes use of a computer synthesized voice. This new technology eliminates many of the delays inherent in the older systems and allows simultaneous broadcasts on multiple transmitters when necessary. It also makes better use of other new technology such as the Specific Area Message Encoder (SAME), which allows listeners to program specially equipped models to receive warning alarms for specific counties, and the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which brings critical warnings to commercial broadcasters faster than ever before.

The NOAA Weather Radio network has nearly 500 stations, covering all 50 states, adjacent coastal waters, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and U.S. Pacific Territories. An ongoing Weather Radio expansion effort is designed to bring this vital coverage to 95 percent of the residents in these areas.

Weather radios come in many sizes, with a variety of functions and costs. Some receivers can automatically sound an alarm and turn themselves on if a severe weather warning is broadcast. Some are SAME-equipped. Most NOAA Weather Radio receivers are either battery-operated portables or AC-powered desktop models with battery backup. Some scanners, HAM radios, CB radios, short wave receivers, and AM/FM radios also are capable of receiving NOAA Weather Radio transmissions. Weather Radio receivers can be purchased at many electronics stores.

WEB SITES:
List of NOAA Weather Radio Frequencies by state and county (Southern States).
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ftproot/msd/nwr/srnwr.html

NOAA Weather Radio home page
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/index.html