Voluntary Recall of Some Oregon Scientific Weather Radios

On August 29th, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with Oregon Scientific, announced a voluntary recall of four (4) models of Oregon Scientific Weather Radios. For more information, click here.

General Recall Information

For information on weather radio receiver recalls, go to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) web site and choose "Radios (Weather)" in the "Product Type" list.

Purchasing a NOAA Weather Radio

NOAA Weather Radios are available at many department and electronic stores. For a listing of vendors, click here.

Mark Trail Award Winner

Mark Trail Awards are given to individuals or groups for their work in promoting NOAA Weather Radio and getting it on the air. In 2007, there were 19 awards given nationwide, and one of them was to the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

The award was presented on June 21, 2007 in Washington, D. C. For more details/pictures, click here.

In the picture: As of October, 2005...there were 25 NOAA Weather Radio transmitters up and running across Arkansas: (1) Grove OK...162.500 MHz, (2) Springdale...162.400 MHz, (3) Harrison...162.525 MHz, (4) Yellville...162.500 MHz, (5) Cherokee Village...162.475 MHz, (6) Wardell MO...162.525 MHz, (7) Dyersburg TN...162.500 MHz, (8) Fayetteville...162.475 MHz, (9) Mountain View...162.450 MHz, (10) Jonesboro...162.550 MHz, (11) Fort Smith...162.550 MHz, (12) Russellville... 162.525 MHz, (13) Morrilton...162.475 MHz, (14) Russell... 162.400 MHz, (15) Memphis TN...162.475 MHz, (16) Mena...162.400 MHz, (17) Mount Ida...162.425 MHz, (18) Little Rock...162.550 MHz, (19) Marvell... 162.525 MHz, (20) Broken Bow OK...162.450 MHz, (21) Gurdon...162.475 MHz, (22) Star City...162.400 MHz, (23) Texarkana...162.550 MHz, (24) El Dorado...162.525, and (25) Fountain Hill...162.475 MHz.

Text version

In the picture: Arkansas Federal Information Processing System (FIPS) codes for Arkansas. Click to enlarge.

One of the main reasons people do not know about Weather Radio is because it not broadcast on standard radio frequencies like FM and AM bands. Weather Radio is broadcast on frequencies similar to television stations. There are six main frequencies, including: 162.400, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525 and 162.550 Megahertz. In order to hear the broadcast, it is necessary to have a specialized receiver. Fortunately, a number of companies make these receivers.

Weather Radio broadcasts are originated at various National Weather Service offices nationwide. Each transmitter has a normal range of 35 to 40 miles, but with high quality receiver and antennas, the signal can be picked up at greater distances. One of the goals of the National Weather Service is to expand the Weather Radio network to include nearly every location in the United States.

Weather Radio provides more than severe weather warnings, it provides tailored area forecasts, hourly weather reports, summaries of the past weather, and much more! The advantage is that the information you hear on Weather Radio is routinely updated. During adverse weather, along with forecasts and warnings, safety information is broadcast. You may be reminded to bring winter safety kit along with you while traveling during the winter months. If a tornado warning has been issued, you may be told what the safest locations are to protect yourself.

When it becomes necessary to issue a severe weather or tornado warning, the National Weather Service can activate an alarm tone. This tone activates specially equipped Weather Radio to alert you that very important information will follow. The advantage is that you do not have to continuously monitor your radio, because it will put out an audible alert. Since most Weather Radios are portable, you can take them on vacations or other trips. If you are camping, you can hear the latest forecast and information on potentially severe weather.

Weather Radio Specific Area Message Encoders (WRSAME) are NOW being used operationally at the Little Rock Office of the National Weather Service!

Weather Radio Specific Area Message Encoders (WRSAME) allow the National Weather Service at Little Rock to encode watch, warning, special, and severe weather statements with information that can be decoded for county by county alerts. Just program special codes (shown near the top of the page) into WRSAME for your county and surrounding counties, and you will be alerted when severe weather approaches. WR-SAME offers you immediate notification of warnings for tornadoes, flash floods, severe thunderstorms, and other hazardous weather events. Look for the new radios in an electronics store near you!

Console Replacement System (CRS) is Here!

CRS is weather radio with computer generated voices. When National Weather Service products are sent to CRS, the system reads the products to listeners automatically.  With CRS, forecast and warning information reaches listeners immediately...the main benefit of the system. Admittedly, the voices of CRS will sound a little different from the human voices heard in the past on NOAA Weather Radio.  It may take some time getting used to...but the National Weather Service has improved the quality of the voices over time. CRS is now available...with most weather products automated.

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