More information is available at the NOAA/NWS Weather Radio site.
** ABUS34 KIND 201633 ***
PNSIND
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
1135 AM EST WED AUG 20 1997
...A NEW GENERATION OF WEATHER RADIOS...
ON TUESDAY...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...OR NWS...REACHED A MILESTONE
IN IMPROVING OUR SYSTEM OF COMMUNICATING SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS
DIRECTLY TO THE PUBLIC. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEATHER RADIO...
THE VOICE OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE
DIRECT SOURCE OF OFFICIAL NWS WATCHES...WARNINGS AND OTHER HAZARDOUS
WEATHER INFORMATION. NWS PERSONNEL INTERRUPT LOCAL PROGRAMMING TO WARN
LISTENERS ABOUT IMMINENT SEVERE WEATHER. THE INFORMATION IS VITAL TO
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THE SEVERE WEATHER. HOWEVER...DUE TO THE RANGE
OF OUR RADIO TRANSMITTER AND LARGE AREA OF RADIO COVERAGE...SOMETIMES
THIS CAUSES INTERRUPTIONS FOR LISTENERS WHO ARE NOT IN THE PATH OF THE
SEVERE WEATHER AND MAY BE UP TO 80 MILES AWAY.
A NEW GENERATION OF PROGRAMMABLE WEATHER RADIOS...AVAILABLE AT RADIO
SHACK STORES...HIT THE MARKET TUESDAY AND HAVE A FEATURE CALLED SPECIFIC
AREA MESSAGE ENCODING...OR SAME. THE SAME FEATURE ENABLES PEOPLE
TO CUSTOMIZE THEIR RADIOS TO RECEIVE ONLY THE OFFICIAL WATCHES AND
WARNINGS THEY WANT...AND ONLY FOR THE COUNTIES THEY WANT. THE SAME
FEATURE ALLOWS THE LISTENER TO SCREEN OUT ALL OTHER WATCHES AND
WARNINGS.
** ABUS34 KFTW 211727 ***
PNSFTW
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1225 PM CDT THU AUG 21 1997
...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NOW BROADCASTING SEVERE WEATHER
WARNINGS FOR MORE SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHIC AREAS...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANNOUNCED TODAY AN IMPROVEMENT TO
ITS SERVICE OF BROADCASTING SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS TO THE PUBLIC
THROUGH ITS NETWORK OF NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTERS. A NEW
GENERATION OF WEATHER RADIO RECEIVERS...USING NWS-DEVELOPED
TECHNOLOGY...WILL ENABLE LISTENERS TO SCREEN OUT WEATHER ALARMS
THAT DO NOT APPLY TO THEM.
"WE WANT TO REDUCE THE 'BOY WHO CRIED WOLF' SYNDROME BY TARGETING
OUR ALARMS FOR SPECIFIC SEGMENTS OF THE LISTENING AREA..." SAID
LOUIS J. BOEZI...NWS DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR MODERNIZATION. "THIS NEW
WARNING PROCEDURE IS A BREAKTHROUGH BECAUSE IT LETS NOAA WEATHER
RADIO LISTENERS SCREEN OUT THE SEVERE WEATHER ALARMS THEY DON'T
WANT TO HEAR. IF LISTENERS ARE AWAKENED AT 3 A.M. FOR A SEVERE
WEATHER WARNING 75 MILES AWAY...THEY MAY EVENTUALLY TUNE OUT ALL
TOGETHER. WE DON'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN."
NOAA WEATHER RADIO...THE "VOICE OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE..." BROADCASTS OFFICIAL NWS WARNINGS AND HAZARD
INFORMATION AND LOCAL FORECASTS 24 HOURS A DAY OVER A GROWING
NATIONAL NETWORK OF MORE THAN 450 TRANSMITTERS. ROUTINE FORECAST
INFORMATION IS UPDATED EVERY ONE TO THREE HOURS...AND NOAA
WEATHER RADIO BROADCASTS ARE REPEATED ABOUT EVERY FIVE MINUTES.
DURING AN EMERGENCY...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECASTERS
INTERRUPT LOCAL NOAA WEATHER RADIO PROGRAMMING AND SEND OUT AN
ALARM TONE THAT ACTIVATES NOAA WEATHER RADIO RECEIVERS WITHIN THE
ENTIRE LISTENING AREA. SINCE TRANSMITTERS TYPICALLY REACH PEOPLE
WITHIN A RANGE OF HUNDREDS OF SQUARE MILES...TECHNICAL
LIMITATIONS HAVE LED TO THE APPEARANCE OF "OVERWARNING" FOR SOME
SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS.
BOEZI SAID A NEW GENERATION OF NOAA WEATHER RADIO RECEIVERS HAVE
A SPECIFIC AREA MESSAGE ENCODING (SAME) FEATURE THAT ALLOWS
CONSUMERS TO CHOOSE ONLY THE OFFICIAL NWS WATCHES AND WARNINGS
THEY WANT. OLDER NOAA WEATHER RADIO RECEIVERS CONTINUE TO
WORK... BUT THESE OLDER RECEIVERS DO NOT ALLOW LISTENERS TO
SCREEN OUT WEATHER SERVICE ALARMS FOR INDIVIDUAL COUNTIES.
BOEZI PRAISED THE EFFORTS OF THE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY TO
BRING THESE NEW NOAA WEATHER RADIO RECEIVERS TO THE MARKETPLACE.
"WE HOPE THAT MANUFACTURERS WILL DEVELOP NEW CAR RADIOS AND
CITIZEN BAND RADIOS CAPABLE OF PICKING UP SAME-CODED ALERTS..."
SAID BOEZI. "SINCE THE SAME CODES ARE FULLY COMPATIBLE WITH THE
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION'S EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM...WE
ALSO HOPE SOMEDAY SOON TO SEE NEW TELEVISION SETS...PAGERS...
CELLULAR PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES CAPABLE OF RECEIVING
SAME-CODED ALERTS. THERE'S A HUGE MARKET OUT THERE FOR DEVICES
THAT CAN BE PRE-SET TO RECEIVE LOCALLY-BROADCAST HAZARD WARNINGS
AND ALERT PEOPLE ANY TIME OF THE DAY OR NIGHT WHEN THEY MAY ONLY
HAVE MINUTES TO REACT."
THE FIRST BRAND OF THE NEW SAME-CAPABLE RECEIVER IS SOLD BY RADIO
SHACK...AND OTHER BRANDS OF RECEIVERS WITH THE SAME FEATURE ARE
EXPECTED TO BE SOLD BY ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURERS LATER THIS YEAR.
FOLLOWING A TORNADO THAT KILLED MORE THAN 20 PEOPLE IN A RURAL
ALABAMA CHURCH ON PALM SUNDAY IN 1994...VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE
SET A GOAL TO MAKE NOAA WEATHER RADIO RECEIVERS AS COMMON AS
SMOKE DETECTORS IN AMERICAN HOMES AND TO EXTEND THE COVERAGE
PROVIDED BY THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTER NETWORK TO 95
PERCENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
SINCE THE GORE NOAA WEATHER RADIO INITIATIVE BEGAN...THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE GORE TASK FORCE HAVE
BEEN ACTIVELY PROMOTING PUBLIC/PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS TO
PROVIDE THE NEEDED RESOURCES. MORE THAN 50 NEW WEATHER RADIO
TRANSMITTERS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED SINCE 1994 THROUGH GRASS ROOTS
PARTNERSHIPS COMBINING RESOURCES OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISES...
ASSOCIATIONS...AND LOCAL...STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.
ARKWRIGHT MUTUAL INSURANCE CO. ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK THAT IT IS
INVESTING $1.2 MILLION TO INSTALL 10000 RECEIVERS INTO ITS
CUSTOMERS' FACILITIES FOR NO CHARGE. THIS WILL BE THE LARGEST
PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO NETWORK AND WILL
EXTEND THE SERVICE INTO A WIDE RANGE OF COMPANIES AND
ORGANIZATIONS NATIONWIDE.
BROADCAST RANGE FROM MOST WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTERS IS
APPROXIMATELY 40 MILES. THE EFFECTIVE RANGE DEPENDS ON
TERRAIN...QUALITY OF THE RECEIVER...AND INDOOR/OUTDOOR ANTENNAS.
BEFORE BUYING ANY NOAA WEATHER RADIO RECEIVER...CONSUMERS SHOULD
MAKE SURE THEIR AREA IS COVERED BY ONE OF THE TRANSMITTERS.
REPORTERS SEEKING MORE INFORMATION ON NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER
ASPECTS OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ARE INVITED TO VISIT THE
NWS PUBLIC AFFAIRS WEBSITE AT:
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/pa/
