National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Lingering Cold, Snow, and Winds in the East Folowing Arctic Cold Front; Above Normal Temperatures in the West

Areas of heavy snow and gusty winds will continue over the Great Lakes, central Appalachians, and Upstate New York overnight into Friday before another fast moving clipper arrives with more snow this weekend. Below normal temperatures will remain in place across much of the southern and eastern U.S. on Friday while the western U.S. sees above normal temperatures. Read More >

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from your local National Weather Service Office. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  

NOAA Weather Radio utilizes seven frequencies in the VHF band between 162.400 and 162.550 megahertz (MHz) to broadcast on over 900 transmitters nationwide. These frequencies are outside the normal AM or FM broadcast range therefore requiring a special receiver or weather radio. The transmitter listening area is usually within 50 miles of a transmitter but can vary depending on surrounding terrain and atmospheric conditions. 

Regular broadcast programming includes local forecasts, climate data, hourly weather conditions, extended forecasts and more. These products are updated throughout the day as needed. Broadcast cycles are generally 4 to 7 minutes long but are shortened during severe weather to provide the listener with active weather watches or warnings. Besides weather hazards, other civil emergency messages such as AMBER alerts or chemical releases are also broadcast. 

While the National Weather Service employees prepare the radio broadcasts, the office does not manufacture or sell receivers. However, most retail outlets including electronics, department, and sporting goods stores as well as many online retailers sell the receivers. Prices can vary from $20 to $200, depending on the model and features. The National Weather Service cannot recommend one brand of receiver over another, but we do suggest that you look for receivers which carry the Public Alert logo. These devices meet certain technical standards and come with the following features: tone alarm, Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) technology, selectable events for alert, battery backup, and an external antenna jack.

Below table shows the 7 transmitters the Aberdeen Weather Forecast Office is responsible for along with the Wessington Springs transmitter, which broadcasts forecast information in our area, but is maintained by the National Weather Service office in Sioux Falls. You may zoom in and out of the map to find which receiver covers your area. To find more information about the transmitter such as operating frequency and actual coverage simply mouse over the icon or check out the table below the map.

 

 

 NWS Aberdeen Weather Radio Transmistters and Frequencies
 Aberdeen Area WXM-25 162.475 Megahertz Coverage Map
 Pierre Area WXM-26  162.400 Megahertz Coverage Map
Mobridge/Lowry Area WXM-40  162.500 Megahertz Coverage Map
 South Shore Area WXM-41  162.425 Megahertz Coverage Map
Reliance Area KZZ-60  162.525 Megahertz Coverage Map
 Firesteel Area WNG-551  162.425 Megahertz Coverage Map
 Appleton MN Area KXI-32  162.550 Megahertz Coverage Map
 Wessington Springs Area WXM-27  162.450 Megahertz Coverage Map

 

Below is a county map of SAME codes. Simply click on your county to view the SAME code needed to program your radio or check out the table below the map.

 

SAME Codes by County
County  SAME Code  County SAME Code
 Big Stone  027011  Hand  046059
 Brown  046013  Hughes  046065
 Buffalo  046017  Hyde  046069
 Campbell  046021  Jones  046075
 Clark  046025  Lyman  046085
 Codington  046029  Marshall  046091
 Corson  046031  McPherson  046089
 Day  046037  Potter  046107
 Deuel  046039  Roberts  046109
 Dewey  046041  Spink  046115
 Edmunds  046045  Stanley  046117
 Faulk  046049  Sully  046119
 Grant  046051  Traverse  027155
 Hamlin  046057  Walworth  046129

When the NWS broadcasts an urgent audio message, a digital S.A.M.E. burst of information is also broadcast. This S.A.M.E. code contains information on the type of message, county(s) affected, and expiration time of the message (the S.A.M.E. code broadcast can be heard as three brief bursts of static). An appropriately programmed NWR with S.A.M.E. technology will then turn on upon receiving the information burst.

 

Tone Alerted Products by the NWS Aberdeen, SD Weather Forecast Office:
Weather
Non-Weather^
Blizzard Warning
Civil Danger Warning
Flash Flood Warning
Evacuation Immediate Warning
Routine Weekly Test*
Fire Warning
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
Hazardous Materials Warning
Severe Thunderstorm Watch
Law Enforcement Warning
Tornado Warning
Nuclear Power Plant Warning
Tornado Watch
Radiological Hazards Warning
 Any Weather Appearing Life-Threatening
Shelter-In-Place Warning

 

* = Newer models do not alert for the test
^ = Not all products may be used by SD state departments at this time

 

 

For more information please visit the National NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio page

 

 

Report NOAA Weather Radio Outages

Listing of All Noaa Weather Radio Transmitters in South Dakota

Nationwide Listing of NOAA Weather Radio Transmitters and SAME Codes