NOAA Weather Radios

NOAA Weather Radios have been mentioned in several posts.  So just what is NOAA and why should I bother listening to NOAA Weather Radio?  NOAA stands for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the National Weather Service.  NOAA weather radios will only be useful to residents or travelers in the United States and its territories.   The broadcast service is NOAA Weather Radio or NWR.  NWR also broadcasts warning and post-event information for all types of hazards – including natural disasers (such as earthquakes or avalanches), environmental problems (such as chemical releases or oil spills), and public safety (such as AMBER alerts or 911 Telephone outages).  NWR includes 1000 transmitters, covering all 50 states, adjacent coastal waters, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Pacific Territories.

NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts can only be received by radios specially equipped to receive the NOAA frequencies.  Specialized radios that receive ONLY NOAA weather broadcasts are available, starting at about $20 . Enter "NOAA Weather Radio" into your favorite search engine and you'll be rewarded with hundreds of possibilities.  Some CB, HAM,, survival radios, and even some car radios include access to NOAA channels.

NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.   The forecast repeats every few minutes.  That means you don't have to sit there waiting for a local radio station to get around to doing the weather. You can tune in immediately and get current forecasts and alerts. The best NOAA radios will respond to alerts and turn themselves on (from stand by mode) so you don't miss an important change in weather conditions.  An even more sophisticated service called Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) allows users to program some specially equipped radios to specific geographical areas instead of entire regions.  Some of the newer radios have LED displays that indicate the type of alert so you can tell at a glance if it is something you need to pay immediate attention to.

NOAA Weather Radio channels may be built into some dash-mounted car radios and CB radios. Many HAM radios can be tuned to NOAA Weather Radio frequencies if you know what they are (162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525, 162.550).  Stand alone units range from small, hand-held models, to more sophisticated and expensive "base station" designs intended for desk or office use.  Base stations might be suitable for RV applications where you'll have 120 volt power available to operate them and will give you more power and greater range.  Hand-held models can be easily moved from vehicle to vehicle, used in camp, or even carried on the trail.   I have an older Radio Shack battery powered radio that is a cube of about 2 1/2" and has a built-in telescoping antenna.  It works really well in camp, but is not designed to withstand the rigors of being carried in pocket or pack.  Portable hand-held models are designed to be carried in a pocket or pack and would be very useful on the trail.

Types of broadcasts.  There are several different types of informational broadcasts transmitted on NOAA Weather Radio.  The major categories include alerts, routine forecast products (hourly observations, hazardous weather outlook, zone forecast product, regional weather synopsis, and the daily climate summary), Specialty Forecast Products (Short term or "NOW" forecast, special weather statements, tabular state forecast, record information announcement, surf zone forecast, river forecast, lake forecast, coastal waters forecast, off shore waters forecast, and tropical weather summary).   The NOAA Weather Radio also participates in the Emergency Alert System and runs a test every Wednesday between 10:00 AM and noon.  For detailed descriptions of each product see the definition of NOAA Weather Radio on Wikipedia.

The benefits of having  NOAA Weather Radio in camp on on the trail are pretty obvious.  You always have immediate access to up to date weather conditions and forecast.  Knowing what is coming can make the difference between an disaster and simply weathering out the storm.

Listen up!