Weather Radio - (This is a Warning System)
Owning a Weather Radio is the best way to get notice any hour of any day when Severe Weather is threatening.
The NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards system is a network of radio stations which cover the entire United States, broadcasting continuous weather information, official warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information.
Weather Radio requires a special "Weather Radio" receiver, or you can use a scanner capable of picking up the signal. Broadcasts are found in the VHF public service band at the seven frequencies (MHz) of 162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525 or 162.550.
A Weather Radio works something like a combination between a clock radio and warning pager. You can turn it on and listen to the broadcasts at any time and after a while, it will start repeating itself until new material is added.
You can also put it into ALERT mode...and it will sit there silently monitoring everything coming over weather radio 24/7 until it receives hidden codes that tell it this is a watch or a warning for the area for which it has been programmed...and it will then sound off with alert tones and turn on the speaker so you can hear the message being broadcast.
And, on all newer radios, you can program it with choose what alerts you want to receive.
Weather Radio will also broadcast warning and information for a variety of "Civil Emergency messages" such as evacuations, chemical emergencies and other public safety issues.
The NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards system is a network of radio stations which cover the entire United States, broadcasting continuous weather information, official warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information.
Weather Radio requires a special "Weather Radio" receiver, or you can use a scanner capable of picking up the signal. Broadcasts are found in the VHF public service band at the seven frequencies (MHz) of 162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525 or 162.550.
A Weather Radio works something like a combination between a clock radio and warning pager. You can turn it on and listen to the broadcasts at any time and after a while, it will start repeating itself until new material is added.
You can also put it into ALERT mode...and it will sit there silently monitoring everything coming over weather radio 24/7 until it receives hidden codes that tell it this is a watch or a warning for the area for which it has been programmed...and it will then sound off with alert tones and turn on the speaker so you can hear the message being broadcast.
And, on all newer radios, you can program it with choose what alerts you want to receive.
Weather Radio will also broadcast warning and information for a variety of "Civil Emergency messages" such as evacuations, chemical emergencies and other public safety issues.
Coverage map for
Gillette Weather Radio Station
WNG-660 162.500 MHz
WNG-660 162.500 MHz
- White areas should have excellent reception
- Green areas should have partial coverage
- Pink areas should not be able tor receive it's signal
S-A-M-E
(Specific Area Message Encoding)
This is a feature you want to look for on any Weather Radio you consider purchasing. This is the feature which allows you to tell your Weather Radio what area for which you want to hear watches or warnings.
See the six-digit numbers under each county name?
That's the "FIPS" Code, short for Federal Information Processing Standards, and it's what the Weather Service uses to define the areas of concern in watches and warnings. That number is what you want to put into your SAME-enabled Weather Radio so it's not going off all the time for areas you don't want to hear about.
(Specific Area Message Encoding)
This is a feature you want to look for on any Weather Radio you consider purchasing. This is the feature which allows you to tell your Weather Radio what area for which you want to hear watches or warnings.
See the six-digit numbers under each county name?
That's the "FIPS" Code, short for Federal Information Processing Standards, and it's what the Weather Service uses to define the areas of concern in watches and warnings. That number is what you want to put into your SAME-enabled Weather Radio so it's not going off all the time for areas you don't want to hear about.
Campbell County is broken up into three parts for SAME Codes
If you're only interested in Watches and Warnings for the southern third of the county, (South of the 4-J School and Highway 59 where it crosses the Belle Fourche River), use 856005
If you're only interested in Watches and Warnings for the center third of the county, use 556005.
If you're only interested in Watches and Warnings for the northern third of the county, (North of the Taylor, Cow Creek & Spring Creek Roads), use 256005.
If you're near one of those division lines, you'll probably want to put in the codes for both areas nearest to you.
If you're only interested in Watches and Warnings for the southern third of the county, (South of the 4-J School and Highway 59 where it crosses the Belle Fourche River), use 856005
If you're only interested in Watches and Warnings for the center third of the county, use 556005.
If you're only interested in Watches and Warnings for the northern third of the county, (North of the Taylor, Cow Creek & Spring Creek Roads), use 256005.
If you're near one of those division lines, you'll probably want to put in the codes for both areas nearest to you.