Severe Storm Early Warning Devices - NOAA Weather Radio
Release Date: May 28, 1999
Release Number: 1274-23
» More Information on Texas Severe Storms and Tornadoes
TEXARAKANA, Texas -- As State and Federal emergency management officials begin to reflect on the human impacts and knowledge gained from the May 4 tornadoes in northeast Texas, the benefits of advance warning became clearly evident. "Early tornado warning broadcasts to residents of northeastern Texas counties on May 4 undoubtedly saved lives," said Ed Laundy, State Coordinating Officer for the Texas Department of Emergency Management.
"A lot of credit has to go to the greatly improved ability of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio Network to alert local electronic media, the public, and community emergency agencies in a timely manner" added Robert Teeri, Federal Coordinating Officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
It is the National Weather Service's goal to someday have NOAA Weather Radios in every home, school, and public facility. NOAA Weather Radios can be purchased at most electronic outlets or by mail order. A very desirable feature is an alarm tone. This allows you to have the radio turned on, but it remains quiet until a special signal is received that activates an audible warning.
On January 21, 1999, Dr. Keith Williams, Superintendent of the Beebe, Arkansas school district, was in his office when the alarm on his NOAA Weather Radio sounded at 2 p.m. Williams continued monitoring the strong line of thunderstorms that was heading his way all afternoon. It was a potentially dangerous situation. That evening, the school was to be the site for several high school basketball games. When the first game began, the National Weather Service had issued tornado warnings associated with the strong line of thunderstorms approaching Beebe.
By half time, around 6:30 p.m., NWS had issued "upstream" tornado warnings. Although it was an unpopular decision, Williams cancelled the game and evacuated the 300 to 400 fans and players. Many fans were angry about the decision, since they had paid admission for two games. However, when the tornado that completely destroyed the gymnasium struck, everyone had been evacuated. No lives were lost; no one was injured.
Weather reports and warnings like those mentioned above are broadcast directly to special radio receivers around the clock by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio network, the "Voice" of the National Weather Service (NWS). Some weather radios have the capability to receive a tone alarm signal, triggering a built-in alarm to warn listeners of severe weather announcements.
But despite real-life stories like those mentioned above, NOAA Weather Radio remains one of the best kept secrets in the United States. NOAA Weather Radio advises people of severe weather watches and warnings, buying extra time for people to react before dangerous storms hit their areas. When you're in the path of something like a tornado, minutes and seconds can mean the difference between life and death.
Weather service offices tailor their NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts to suit local needs and commercial interests. For example, broadcasts in New England may focus on marine weather conditions for recreational boaters and fishing and shipping vessels. Routine information is updated every one to three hours, and the broadcasts continuously repeat. Weather service offices immediately interrupt regular reports when a severe weather situation requires a live alert or warning. Reports air on one of seven VHF high-band FM frequencies between 162.400 and 162.550 megahertz (MHZ).
Now more than 475 transmitters are within the listening range of most of the Nation's population. In 1975, NOAA Weather Radio became the only government-operated radio system for providing direct warnings to private homes for weather and other significant hazards. It's also the primary source of information for activating the Nation's Emergency Alert System.
But state-of-the-art forecasting technology and accurate warnings and forecasts are of little value if people who need the information don't get it in a timely manner. That's why the Weather Service also is modernizing the NOAA Weather Radio network. Additional transmitters funded through partnerships with local industry and government agencies are expanding the system's coverage to unserved areas.
The goal of the NOAA Weather Radio Initiative is to someday have a NOAA Weather Radio in every home, and in all schools, hospitals and other public gathering places, to give people the kind of information they need to safeguard themselves and their homes during a disaster.
Information on Buying a NOAA Weather Radio Receiver
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.
For residential receivers, prices can vary from $20 to $200, depending on the model. Many receivers have an alarm feature, but some may not.
The National Weather Service does not endorse any particular make or model of receiver. The following list below, which contains just some of the many NOAA Weather Radio/EAS receiver manufacturers, is provided to obtain information to decide on a purchase.
There are several features to look for in a NOAA Weather Radio. The most desirable feature is an alarm tone. This allows you to have the radio turned on but quiet, listening for a special tone that is broadcast before watch and warning messages. During an emergency, National Weather Service forecasters will interrupt routine weather radio programming and send out a special tone that activates the NOAA Weather Radios in the listening area.
A new generation of NWR receiver allows you to pre-select the National Weather Service alerts you want to receive according to local geographic areas (counties or in some cases portions of counties). Look for NWR receivers with the SAME feature (Specific Area Message Encoding) which means the receiver is capable of turning itself on from a silent mode when the digital code is broadcast before the alarm tone is sounded for the geographic area you have pre-selected. In addition, a good receiver should be able to operate on batteries during times when electrical services may be interrupted. Look for radios with an AC adapter and battery compartment. The radio should be tunable or switchable to all seven NWR frequencies. Some older models receive only three frequencies, which will not work in all locations.
The hearing and visually impaired can also get these warnings by connecting a specially-designed weather radio to other kinds of attention-getting devices like strobe lights, bed-shakers, personal computers and text printers. Many pager companies now offer alerting pagers that provide the latest weather information.
Some NWR receivers have a connector on the back to control all sorts of remote control devices such as flashing lights, bed shakers or other attention-getting devices. Check with electronics stores, electronics catalogs or conduct an Internet search for more details. Pager companies can give you information on weather-related information products.
Residential Grade Radios
Topaz3 LLC
10828 NW Air World Dr.
Kansas City, MO 64153
800 821-7848
www.topaz3.com
Radio Shack
Throckmorton Street Suite 1800
Ft. Worth, TX 76102
817-415-3200
Support@tandy.com
support.tandy.com/support_audio/3152.htm
Midland Electronics
Dwight Boston
1690 N. Topping
Kansas City, MO 64120
816 241-8500
Midlndcb@midlandradio.com
www.midlandradio.com
Oregon Scientific
Our North American Headquarters
Oregon Scientific, Inc.
18383 SW Boones Ferry Road
Portland OR 97224
voice: (800) 853-8883 Fax:(503) 684-8883
helpme@oscientific.com
www.oregonscientific.com/
MTS Communications Products
Lyn Williams, CEO
Skip White, VP
Tim White,Sales
150 Clayton Commerce Center
Clayton, NC 27520
919-553-2995 Voice
919-553-0437 Fax
lyn@mts-comm.com
skip@mts-comm.com
tim@mts-comm.com
www.EmergencyAlertRadio.com
Alert Products Inc.
Distributed by Media Group Inc.
102 Hamilton Avenue
Stamford, CT 06902
203-406-1000
contact - Robert Herko
Gorman Redlich Mfg. Co
257 West Union Street
Athens, OH 45701
740-593-3150 Voice
740-592-3898 Fax
jimg@gorman-redlich.com
www.gorman-redlich.com/crw.html
C. Crane Company
1001 Main Street
Fortuna, CA 95540
voice 707-725-9000
fax 707-725-9060 (800-522-8863)
ccraneco@aol.com
www.ccrane.com
First Alert Weather Radios
from Cherokee Electronics
1251 N. Sherwood
Palatine, IL 60067
Tel: 800-818-6505
fax: 847-202-5694
e-mail: info@2waytalk.com
Homesafe Inc.
1501 N. Raleigh St., Suite 5, Highway 55
Angier, NC 27501
voice: 919-639-3001
fax: 919-639-4011
e-mail: HSIsupport@aol.com
www.homesafeinc.com
Last Modified: Tuesday, 16-Dec-2003 16:04:50