NOAA Weather Radio

A recreational vehicle owner in a campground picks up a flash flood alert on his weather radio and moves his RV to higher ground. Minutes later a wall of water sweeps through his former campsite. In both cases, lives are saved by a small radio receiver costing less than a new pair of shoes. Weather reports and warnings like the ones mentioned above are broadcast by the National Weather Service directly to home and mobile receivers around the clock. Some weather radios have the capability to receive a tone alert signal, triggering a built-in alarm to warn listeners of severe weather announcements.

Since 2002, these broadcasts have been available in the Norwich area thanks to a grant obtained by the City Emergency Management Office. The new transmitter broadcasts from a County-owned tower site in the Town of Norwich, on a frequency of 162.525 Mhz. Previously, the closest transmitter was in Binghamton and provided a very weak signal to the Norwich area.

Routine information is updated every one to three hours, and the broadcasts continuously repeat. Weather stations immediately interrupt regular reports when a severe weather situation requires a live alert or warning.

NOAA Weather Radios are available at most consumer electronics stores and similar retail outlets.