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What is Weather Radio?

NOAA Weather Radio is a service of the National Weather Service, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept of Commerce.

See KOMO-Radio Story: This Little Box Could Save Your Life September 11, 2003 - By Brian Calvert	Homeland Security Leverages NOAA All-Hazards Network for Alerts and Warnings
US House of Representatives - BOEHLERT, HALL TOUT WEATHER RADIO AS A HOMELAND SECURITY ESSENTIAL

NOAA Weather Radio is the voice of the National Weather Service, broadcasting the latest area weather forecasts and conditions 24-hours a day.

NOAA Weather Radio protects lives! It is an "all-hazards" warning system, used not only for immediate flood and weather related events, but also hazards like tsunamis, volcanic activity, hazardous releases, AMBER child abduction alerts, and secondary hazards from terrorism and earthquakes. Weather radio receivers behave like smoke detectors, silently monitoring, and then alerting you to the initial warning message upon receipt, providing more time to respond to the event. Tests of this feature occur each Wednesday around mid-day, unless significant weather threatens.

Under a 1975 White House policy statement, NOAA Weather Radio was designated the sole government-operated radio system to provide warning information direct to the American people for both natural and technological hazards.

NOAA Weather Radio is a lifesaver for the cost of a pair of shoes.

NOAA Weather Radio is a perfect complement to local broadcast news, as well as the Internet and other weather information sources. It serves as a "first-alert" to the hazardous event. Most news-oriented broadcasters will offer further information.

 

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For more information, go to:

• NOAA Weather Radio Start Page
• What is Weather Radio?
• Weather Radio Features
• Weather Radio in Washington
• Weather Radio Warning Alarm and EAS (SAME) Activation
• What is a Watch and a Warning?
• Where to Get Weather Radios?

 

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Click on the image at right to download a full-sized (8 1/2" x 11") Adobe PDF of the September is Weather Radio Awareness Month Poster

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Click on the image at right to download a full-sized (8 1/2" x 11") (Adobe PDF) of the May is Volcano Awareness Month Poster

Further information is available at the following: All Hazards National Weather Radio information Fact sheets on AMBER Alerts, All Hazards, the National Weather Service, and Changes to the Emergency Alert System (EAS) (Adobe PDF) The policy for CEMs is in the following directives (Adobe PDF): NWS Instruction 10-518 - "National Non-Weather Related Emergency Products Specification" NWS Instruction 10-1710 - "NOAA Weather Radio Dissemination" - This covers non-weather emergency message policy and procedures for NWR. NWS Instruction 10-1701 - "Text Product Formats and Codes" - This covers generic format information, generic instructions for issuing TEST messages, etc.

 

CONTACT

For further information contact: PublicEducation@emd.wa.gov

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