NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) All Hazards

Here’s how it works.

During an emergency, NWS sends a special tone that activates the weather radio in the affected area. When the weather radio is activated, an alarm tone sounds and then you will hear specific information about the potential or imminent hazard. NOAA

Weather radios are available at many retail outlets, including electronics, department, and sporting goods stores, as well as many grocery stores. They can also be purchased via the Internet from online retailers or directly from manufacturers. They are available with many different features, and can cost anywhere from $20 to $200. A few of the more useful features include:

• Tone alarm: The alarm tone will activate for watch and warning messages even if the receiver is turned off.
• S.A.M.E. technology: Specific Alert Message Encoding allows you to specify the area for which you would like to receive alerts. Without this feature, you may hear watches and warnings for several counties. With this feature, you will hear messages only about the areas you have selected.
• Battery backup: This feature is useful since power outages often accompany severe weather. It is recommended that you use the AC power under normal conditions, however, in order to preserve battery life. For more information, and to program your weather radio, go to www.weather.gov/nwr.