Weather radios

NOAA Weather Radio is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Known as the "Voice of NOAA's National Weather Service," NOAA Weather Radio is provided as a public service.

In North Carolina, nearly 30 NOAA Weather Radio broadcast stations provide weather forecast and warning for all 100 counties. No matter where you live there is a NOAA Weather Radio station nearby. NOAA Weather Radio will alert you 24 hours a day to the following weather hazards in your county: tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flash floods, river floods and winter storms.

NWR requires a special radio receiver or scanner capable of picking up the signal. Broadcasts are found in the VHF public service band on these seven frequencies ranging from 162.400 MHz to 162.550 MHz.

These special receivers range in price from $20 to $65, through most radios cost less than $40. The weather radio’s round-the-clock protection can be a life-saving investment and they can be found in most electronic stores and on many popular. When purchasing a
NOAA Weather radio consumers are recommended to buy a radio with the S.A.M.E. (Specific Area Message Encoded) technology. The S.A.M.E. technology allows the user to program specific counties into the radio such that it only receives alerts for the desired county or counties. This greatly reduces the number of alerts received.