How to Use an NOAA Weather Alert Radio – Broadcast Frequencies and Alerts Explained

R eports of hazardous weather are popping up now more than ever. The US has already seen its fair share of devastating events, but with climate change shifting the world as we know it, problems seem to worsen with time. Nature has always had its moments of ruthlessness, and while there is little to nothing that we can do to stop phenomena that can endanger us, we at least have the means to stay out of harm’s way as much as possible.

Luckily, we even have means to predict extreme weather events that are more or less accurate and make a big difference since there is more time to prepare for impending disasters of meteorological nature. However, weather watches, warnings, and advisories remain our #1 source of preparedness. These broadcasts are provided by the National Weather Service office, which observes the weather 24/7 to be on the lookout for any emergency situation.

While there are multiple ways to receive these weather alerts, including TV station broadcasts and warnings over the phone if you have the needed setup, the best solution is to use an NOAA weather radio since this is the specific purpose of the device. It continuously provides weather bulletins for your area of interest, and when there is an imminent threat of severe weather, it gives audio alerts that you surely won’t miss.

This is the subject I want to cover today, the ever-useful NOAA weather radio. I want to go over the topic of programming this useful weather alert device to help you set up yours and talk about the broadcast frequencies it features and the alerts it sends out. Stick with me until the end, and you will know everything there is to know about this critical safety tool.

Man Setting Time On Midland NOAA Weather Radio

How to Set Up the Weather Radio

If you already got your hands on an NOAA weather radio or you want to go through reviews to buy one soon, the first thing you have to do when you intend to use the device is to program it. For today’s article, I will use Midland as an example since the radio I currently use comes from this brand. Midland is one of the companies that produce the best NOAA weather alert radios, so you should seriously consider the brand if you haven’t gotten your radio yet.

So, here are the steps you have to take when you set up a Midland weather radio:

• First, you must put the batteries in the back of the radio. For that, you will need AA batteries.
• The radio also comes with a wall plug. Even though it works independently, too, since it’s battery-powered, you are advised never to use it this way unless the power goes out. These serve only as a backup; you shouldn’t waste their energy. So, for example, in the event of severe thunderstorms, when the power goes down, you will need to continue using the radio to know what is happening to know when it is safe to get out of your shelter. Therefore, the next thing you want to do is plug in the radio.
• On the device’s side is a switch. Flip it on and preferably put some tape over the button so that you or anyone else won’t accidentally flip it off. Note that this is not a power switch. Instead, it is the means that allows the radio to receive information from the National Weather Service. So, without it in this specific position, the radio won’t work.
• Now, we can move on to the actual setup part. Press the Menu button if the device isn’t already in the Menu section. Then, to scroll through options, use the up and down arrows.
• First, let’s set the location. With newer Midland radios, you have to press Select on the Location option from the menu. On this menu, you have three options: Single, Any, and Multiple. If you choose Single, you will receive weather reports and alerts for a single county. If you want to monitor multiple counties to alert loved ones who don’t live in the same area, then you have to pick Multiple. On Multiple, you will repeat the proceedings you do for Single as often as you like or the device allows it, depending on its available slots. So, let’s talk about the Single option. Use the arrows to land on your pick and press Select. Press select once more to confirm that you want reports for a US location. Then, use the arrows to find the state you want and press Select. From the new menu that appears, select the county.
• The procedure is more or less the same with old Midland radios. After you pick the state and county as instructed, you have to choose the SAME code in your county for the transmitter nearest to your exact location.
• Now let’s set the alarm type. While in the main menu, scroll to find this option and press Select. You have three options, namely Voice, Tone, or Display. I urge that you opt for Voice since the screen will display the alert, and the actual text will be read aloud so that you can hear the information even if you are not paying direct attention to the device.
• Let’s set the events next. Thanks to this feature, you only receive alerts that interest you. Go through the main menu until you find this option, and press Select. Then, you will see the following options on the screen: All on, All off, All default, and Edit events. Personally, I would recommend that you set the device on All default and adjust alerts with time if you find that there are too many of them. When you want to eliminate or add specific events, choose the Edit events option and press Select. A list with all possible alerts is provided. Scroll through it, selecting On or Off for each alert. Select Confirm when you choose and return to the alert list.
• The last important setup aspect I want to discuss is setting the channel. Go to the main menu, scroll until you find the Channel option, and press Select. Open up the NOAA website that lists broadcast frequencies on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or PC. The right side of the radio’s screen will display a series of numbers. Ensure these match the frequency from the aforementioned NOAA website. Then, use the arrows to scroll through the channels until you find the correct numbers. Listen to the broadcast to ensure the voices are heard clearly enough. If the numbers match, but the sound is poor, raise the radio’s antenna and change its position until you pick up a better signal. You can select Confirm to finish this part when you find the antenna’s position and the audio is clear.

There are other settings that you can play with, but these are more intuitive and not as important, which is why I won’t cover them all here since the user manual will explain them well enough. These include settings like backlight, language, time, and more. However, I want to advise you to test the alert when you finish with the essential setup parts that I previously covered in detail. This way, you make sure that the radio works properly.

It would be best to go through the menu until you find this option and press Select. As you do this, the radio will emit the sound it makes when it receives an alert. If everything works well, press the Weather/Snooze button to confirm that the device is alright so that the test practice sound turns off.

Informative Map Containing the NWR Transmitting Stations

On What Frequencies Do These Radios Broadcast?

The frequencies of these specialized weather devices are outside the regular AM and FM broadcast bands. All of the weather radios broadcast on one of the standard seven frequencies in the VHF Public Service band, namely:

• 162.400 MHz;
• 162.425 MHz;
• 162.450 MHz;
• 162.475 MHz;
• 162.500 MHz;
• 162.525 MHz;
• 162.550 MHz.

The broadcasts come from over 750 transmitters located in the 50 states that compose the US, along with adjacent coastal waters, like the District of Columbia, Guam, the N. Marina Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.

The usual broadcast range of a 1,000-watt transmitter is about 40 miles over level terrain. But, of course, the actual range depends on the landscape, receiver quality, whether the antenna is used indoors or outdoors, and the height and power of the antenna that does the transmission of information. So if your area is not covered by at least one transmitter of the sort, which is highly unlikely, seeing how over 90% of the US territory is covered, there is no point in buying an NOAA weather radio since it won’t pick up on the broadcast at all.

Aerial View of Flooded Area

What Weather Emergency Alerts Can It Issue?

I previously mentioned the aspect of alerts. There are weather and non-weather emergency audio alerts and messages that the radio will automatically attract your attention to if you have a specific area message encoding device. However, before we draw the inevitable conclusion of the article, I want to review these alerts with you so that you know what to expect.

These are the weather emergency message audio alerts and non-weather emergency messages that the NOAA weather radio will transmit:

• Blizzard warning;
• Flash flood warning;
• Flood watch;
• High wind warning;
• Ice storm warning;
• Severe thunderstorm warning;
• Severe thunderstorm watch;
• Special marine warning;
• Tornado warning;
• Tornado watch;
• Various non-weather hazards;
• Weekly and monthly tests;
• Winter storm warning.

The Takeaway

As you can see, setting up and using this specialty weather alert radio is not that big of a deal. Even if you go for a different brand than Midland, the setup procedure goes pretty much the same way. These are intuitive devices that anyone can use and prove to be life savers in extreme weather events. Best of all, their asking price is low. Thus, the radio is an accessible purchase that you should have in your home to steer clear of the potential threats of extreme weather.