NOAA All Hazards
Weather Radio
What is NOAA
Weather Radio?
NOAA Weather Radio is a free public service of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The National Weather Service operates a network
of NOAA Weather Radio stations across the country,
and there are a handful of these stations in Arizona.
Our staff prepares the broadcasts for the Phoenix,
Yuma, and Globe stations, and the remaining
stations in Arizona are handled by our offices
in Flagstaff and Tucson.
NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts are commercial-free,
and operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Routine
broadcasts prepared by NWS Phoenix include
current weather conditions, local and extended
forecasts, Arizona weather summaries, and travelers
forecasts. Daily climate summaries are also broadcast
on the Phoenix station.
During severe weather, our forecasters will interrupt
the routine weather programming with special statements
and warning messages, bringing you up-to-the-minute
information on developing weather situations.
In addition, we can trigger specially equipped
NOAA Weather Radio receivers to sound an alarm
when threatening weather is approaching your community.
This feature alone is one of the most important
reasons to own a weather radio.
NOAA Weather
Radio sounds different now. Why is this?
As part of the NWS modernization effort, NOAA Weather Radio had been
upgraded across the country. NOAA Weather Radio 2000 was a nationwide
system upgrade which included a computer synthesized voice; the first
incarnation of this voice was known in some circles as "Sven"
due to the rather distinctive "accent". The newest computer
voices, known as "Craig" and "Donna" are based on
a 'voice-concatenation' technology which provides a superior sounding
voice, as compared to 'Sven'. NWR will continue to broadcast all of the
National Weather Service information that it has in the past, and because
it is automated - severe weather and flood/flash flood warnings will be
broadcast immediately without any of the delay that the previous "manual"
system involved. Our office has been able to improve the voice and word
pronunciation so that the computer's spoken words are more clear; it is
unlikely, however, with the current technology, to ever get the synthesized
voice to equal a human voice in quality.
What other
benefits are there to NWR 2000?
The most important feature of NOAA Weather Radio
is its capability to tone activate weather radio
receivers. This feature can turn on weather radio
receivers alerting the listener that severe weather
or a flood/flash flood is imminent. The primary
mission of the NWS is to issue severe weather
warnings to protect life and property. The NOAA
Weather Radio upgrade ensures consistent "Alarm"
service directly to the public, schools, hospitals,
day care centers, and commercial broadcasters.
How do I tune
in?
NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts can not be received
on most conventional AM/FM radios; you need a
special receiver. These special receivers, which
are available from several manufacturers, are
available with and without the alerting features
discussed above. Some other manufacturers also
include the NOAA Weather Radio bands as special
features on an increasing variety of receivers.
NOAA Weather Radio capability is currently available
on some automobile, aircraft, marine, citizens
band, and standard AM/FM radios as well as communications
receivers, transceivers, scanners, and cable TV.
However, if you wish to have the warning alarm
feature, your best bet is to purchase a special
receiver designed for this purpose.
Where can
I buy them?
Special NOAA Weather radios can often be found at an electronics store,
or at a local department store. A number of models and styles are available,
and prices usually range from around $15 for a basic receiver to over
$50 for a high-quality unit. You can generally find a good-quality receiver
for around $30 - $40 with a built-in alarm. The National Weather Service
does not endorse any particular brand, but we do recommend purchasing
one with an alarm feature. Recently newer receivers have been produced
that have the ability to take advantage of SAME technology, and these units generally
cost up to twice as much as a conventional tone-alert receivers.
Where can
I tune in?
By nature and design, NOAA Weather Radio coverage is limited to an area
within about 40 miles of the transmitter, but this range will vary somewhat
in mountainous regions. A list of transmitting sites in Arizona is provided
in the table below. The quality of what is heard is generally dictated
by the distance from the transmitter, the terrain, and the quality and
location of the receiver. Varying weather conditions can also affect the
quality of the received signal. Sometimes, transmitter problems, not range
or location, can result in a degraded or inaudible signal. Click "Reporting
an NWR Transmitter Problem" to forward your concerns to the appropriate
NWR technicians.
Internet
MP3 Broadcasts
You can listen in to selected products from the Phoenix NOAA Weather
Radio broadcast cycle, encoded in MP3 format. If you have a Windows Media
Player or a RealAudio Player (5.0 or later), then click here to go to
our NOAA Weather Radio Broadcast Page.
NOAA
Weather Radio in Arizona
Transmitter
location |
Frequency
(Mhz) |
Programming
originates from |
Flagstaff |
162.400 |
NWS Flagstaff |
Globe (Signal Peak) |
162.500 |
NWS Phoenix |
Grand Canyon (Hopi
Point) |
162.475 |
NWS Flagstaff |
Green's Peak |
162.525 |
NWS Flagstaff |
Payson (Mt. Ord) |
162.425 |
NWS Flagstaff |
Phoenix |
162.550 |
NWS Phoenix |
Prescott |
162.525 |
NWS Flagstaff |
Show Low |
162.400 |
NWS Flagstaff |
Tucson |
162.400 |
NWS Tucson |
Safford (Heliograph
Pk) |
162.550 |
NWS Tucson |
Crawford Hill |
162.500 |
NWS Tucson |
Window Rock |
162.550 |
NWS Flagstaff |
Yuma |
162.550 |
NWS Phoenix |
Kingman |
162.425 |
NWS Las Vegas |
Lake Havasu City |
162.400 |
NWS Las Vegas |
Other
stations that reach parts of Arizona |
Lake Powell |
162.550 |
NWS Salt Lake City |
Las Vegas, NV |
162.550 |
NWS Las Vegas |
Farmington, NM |
162.475 |
NWS Albuquerque |
To view the National List of NWR Stations
and Transmitter Frequencies , click on this link.
For
more information...
Official
NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) Homepage
NOAA Weather
Radio Receiver Consumer Information
Reporting an NWR
Transmitter Problem
Information
on the proposed automation of NOAA Weather
Radio Stations
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