How Important is a Weather Radio?

6/4/2018 (Permalink)

Did you know that a Weather Radio is the most reliable source for weather alerts? Because of it's reliability, purchasing a good quality weather radio is one of the best precautions you can take. The weather radio is designed to alert you to potentially dangerous weather situations like a storm that could produce hail or an approaching tornado. This alert warns you ahead of time so you can seek shelter. 

Weather radios are very affordable and have many advancements from where they used to be. A basic weather radio can average around $30 and you can program it to send you weather alerts of your choice. 

There are key features to look for when shopping for a weather radio:

• Alerts that can be reviewed so you can scroll thru the alerts and silence the ones you do not wish to hear.
• Programmable Alert for Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) which alerts when specific counties are threatened and ensures you only receive alerts for your county.
• System that is easily programmable.

Contacting your local National Weather Service Office is always an option if you need help programming your weather radio. Or visit the NOAA Weather Raodio webiste at www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/ for additional information including county codes for your state.