NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information direct from a nearby National Weather Service office. NWR broadcasts National Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day. If you are experiencing a NOAA Weather Radio outage, please click here to report it. Graphic depicting NOAA Weather Radio

NOAA Weather Radio Programming Information can be found by clicking here.


Voluntary recall of some Oregon Scientific weather radios.  For information about the recall, please click here.

  

Working with the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) Emergency Alert System, NWR is an "all hazards" radio network, making it your single source for comprehensive weather and emergency information. NWR also broadcasts warning and post-event information for all types of hazards--both natural (such as earthquakes and volcano activity) and environmental (such as chemical releases or oil spills) plus AMBER alerts.

Known as the "Voice of the National Weather Service," NWR is provided as a public service by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), part of the Department of Commerce. NWR includes more than 900 transmitters, covering all 50 states, adjacent coastal waters, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Pacific Territories. NWR requires a special radio receiver or scanner capable of picking up the signal. Broadcasts are found in the public service band at these seven frequencies (MHz):  162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525, 162.550.  Courtesy Main NWS NOAA Weather Website

Modern NWR Receivers are often SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) capable, meaning by programming them via a small keypad on the receiver, they can be setup to only alert or turn on for specific areas (usually counties in the Midwest).  In this manner, you won't be awakened at 3 a.m. for a warning which is not of interest to you.

Tests of NWR Receivers occur each Wednesday at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. unless hazardous weather is occurring or expected. If hazardous weather is occurring, then the tests will be postponed until the next good weather day. Test transmissions are conducted twice each Wednesday so that both workplace and home receivers can be tested in your presence.

A growing number of NWR sites across the country now have non-government entities streaming the audio across the internet.  A listing of these sites can be found here.

The following table lists specific messages alerted on NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio receivers. If you do not see a specific message or EAS code mentioned in this table, then an alert is not sent for that message.

Product
EAS Code
1050 Hz Sent
S.A.M.E. Sent
Notes
Tornado Warning TOR Always Always  
Severe Thunderstorm Warning SVR Always Always  
Flash Flood Warning FFW Always Always  
Tornado Watch TOA Always Always  
Severe Thunderstorm Watch SVA Always Always  
Civil Emergency Message CEM Always Always  
Administrative Message ADR No Always  
Blizzard Warning BZW Yes - see note Yes - see note No audible alarms sent between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
High Wind Warning HWW Yes - see note Yes - see note No audible alarms sent between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Flash Flood Watch FFA Seldom Seldom Senior Forecaster Discretion
Winter Storm Warning WSW Seldom Seldom Senior Forecaster Discretion
Winter Storm Watch WSA No No  
Severe Weather Statement SVS No Yes As of Spring 2006, NWS Des Moines now sends S.A.M.E. tones for Severe Weather Statements
Flash Flood Statement FFS No Yes As of Spring 2006, NWS Des Moines now sends S.A.M.E. tones for Flash Flood Statements
AMBER Alerts CAE No Yes  
911 Outage TOE No Yes  
Required Weekly Test RWT Yes Yes Some weather radio receivers will only display a message that the test was received. Others will actually alarm.

NWR Broadcasts Originating from WFO Des Moines
or Serving WFO Des Moines' Counties

KXI-65 Broadcasting on 162.450 MHz KXI-62 Broadcasting on 162.450 MHz KZZ-51 Broadcasting on 162.425 MHz WXL-57 Broadcasting on 162.550 MHz WXN-91 Broadcasting on 162.425 MHz KXK-98 Broadcasting on 162.500 MHz WXK-84 Broadcasting on 162.400 MHz WXL-94 Broadcasting on 162.550 MHz KZZ-80, Milford Iowa broadcasting on 162.550 MHz with programming provided by WFO Sioux Falls South Dakota NOAA Weather Radio Programming for Northwest Iowa provided by WFO Sioux Falls South Dakota KZZ-52, Hancock Iowa broadcasting on 162.525 MHz with programming provided by WFO Omaha Nebraska NOAA Weather Radio Programming for Southwest Iowa provided by WFO Omaha Nebraska KXI-68, St. Ansgar Iowa broadcasting on 162.450 MHz with programming provided by WFO La Crosse Wisconsin NOAA Weather Radio Programming for Northeast Iowa provided by WFO La Crosse Wisconsin NOAA Weather Radio Programming for Southeast Iowa provided by WFO Davenport Iowa NOAA Weather Radio Programming for portions of far Southern Iowa and Northern Missouri provided by WFO Pleasant Hill Missouri KWW-47, Storm Lake Iowa broadcasting on 162.450 MHz with programming provided by WFO Sioux Falls South Dakota KZZ-68 Broadcasting on 162.475 MHz WNG-666 Broadcasting on 162.525 MHz WNG-668 Broadcasting on 162.550 MHz WNG-688 Broadcasting on 162.475 MHz KJY-63 Broadcasting on 162.500 MHz NWR Transmitters in and near WFO Des Moines CWA

click on a county for details of NWR coverage
  • National Weather Service
  • Des Moines, IA Weather Forecast Office
  • 9607 NW Beaver Drive
  • Johnston, IA 50131-1908
  • 515-270-2614
  • Page Author: DMX Webmaster
  • Web Master's E-mail: w-dmx.webmaster@noaa.gov
  • Page last modified: March 16th 2009 2:46 PM
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