NOAA Weather Radio and Severe Weather

Storm Impacting the Northwest U.S.; Fire Weather Conditions in Southern California; Severe Weather in the South

A Pacific storm is bringing areas of low elevation rain, moderate to heavy mountain snow, and high winds to the Northwest. Strong Santa Ana winds and very dry conditions are producing elevated to critical fire weather conditions in southern California. Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are possible through early Wednesday morning across parts of northeast Texas into western Tennessee. Read More >

Weather Radio and Severe Weather

The most important feature of NOAA Weather Radio is its ability to broadcast severe weather watches and warnings as they are issued. During these events, radios with the alert feature will automatically activate a tone whenever a watch or warning has been issued. You can then listen to the broadcast to find out the type of severe weather threat, and where it is expected. This immediate "heads-up" will not only keep you aware of the potential weather dangers of the day...but can also give you the time to seek shelter...and in extreme instances...even save your life.

You would like a weather radio, especially for its alert feature, but you don't want to be woken up at 3 am for a warning that is three counties away? Well, some radios now come with the Specific Area Message Encoding technology...SAME for short. Weather radios that have this feature will enable the user to select which counties he or she wants to be warned for. That way, the alarm will only go off for the counties you choose.

The weather radio is also updated constantly with the most up-to-date severe weather information, including where the storms are, where they are going, and reports of damage as we receive them. And, with most weather radios having a battery backup, even if power goes off, you will still be able to get the latest severe weather information.