The newer receivers allow you to choose which warning locations your receiver will alarm for. However, the advent of Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) technology, permits newer receivers to alarm only if a warning is broadcast that pertains to your particular location. In the past, ALL receivers equipped with the tone alert feature within the listening area would alarm anytime a warning was issued. This is known as the tone alert feature, and acts much like a smoke detector in that it will alarm when necessary to warn of an impending hazard. The forecaster can also add special signals to warnings that trigger "alerting" features of specially equipped receivers. Other specialized information, such as hydrological forecasts and climatological data, are also broadcast.ĭuring severe weather, National Weather Service forecasters can interrupt the routine weather broadcasts and insert special warning messages concerning imminent threats to life and property. For example, in addition to general weather information, stations in coastal areas provide information of interest to mariners.
The regular broadcasts are specifically tailored to weather information needs of the people within the service area of the transmitter. Weather messages are repeated every 4 to 7 minutes, and are routinely updated every 1 to 3 hours or more frequently in rapidly changing local weather, or if a nearby hazardous environmental condition exists. As the "Voice of the National Weather Service", it provides continuous broadcasts of the latest weather information from local National Weather Service offices. NOAA Weather Radio is a service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. It is estimated that over 85 percent of the population now resides within the service area of at least one transmitter. The National Weather Service provides local weather broadcasts, called NOAA Weather Radio, from over 700 different transmitters nationwide.
RECALL of Some NOAA Weather Radio Receiver Models Local NOAA Weather Radio Pamphlet (in pdf format) List of Weather Radio County FIPS Codes for ME and NH Broadcast Stations List of ME and NH NOAA Weather Radio Stations Reporting a Transmitter Problem or Outage What it is and what you can do to improve reception of the broadcasts The NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio System.