Methods
and equipment to improve awareness of weather emergencies.
NOAA
weather radio with SAME technology. These can be purchased for
approximately $60 each. The weather radio can be programmed to respond to
severe weather alerts for specific counties. These receivers include a
battery backup system for use during a power failure. The Kalamazoo area NOAA transmitter
broadcasts on 162.475MHz. The SAME code for Kalamazoo County is 026077.
EMWIN or Emergency Managers Weather
Information Network, is a weather data stream that is broadcast to the
public via internet, satellite, or radio. The data is
translated by a computer to
text based watches and warnings. Several types of alarms can be triggered
by the computer. The EMWIN radio transmitter for this area is on
150.500MHz and is located in Battle Creek, Michigan. Internet and
satellite broadcasts are sent at a higher data rate than the radio
circuit. The radio circuit is very useful for areas that do not have
dedicated internet or satellite access. Several EMWIN software packages
are available for around $50. INTERWARN
www.interwarn.com will
support internet, satellite, and/or radio with the appropriate hardware.
There is no monthly charge for this service. http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/emwin/index.htm
Weatherbug
www.weatherbug.com is a free,
internet based weather warning system that can run in the background of
your computer. This program is useful if you have dedicated internet
access. The warnings may be slower to arrive than from EMWIN or NOAA
weather radio.
VHF
scanners are available in the $75-$100 price range. They are useful to
receive SKYWARN severe weather nets via amateur radio. Trained ham radio
weather spotters observe and
report threatening weather conditions to the National Weather Service over
amateur radio networks. Specific frequency information is available at www.qsl.net/w8ihx/sky_fqys.htm
. Scanners can also receive weather information on the Battle Creek
Direction and Control Repeater on 156.105MHz. Local fire department radio
channels are sometimes worth listening to for weather information.
IWIN http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/mi/mi.html
is a web-based source for accurate weather information.
The
emergency email network can email severe weather alerts. Their url is http://www.emergencyemail.org/
Local
television stations often put their weather radar online.
Broadcast
AM/FM stations will transmit Emergency Alert System messages when severe
weather is reported. The primary EAS station for this area is WKFR on
103.3MHz FM.
The Kalamazoo County Weather Warning system is a public safety based system to warn local governments of severe weather. The approximate cost of hardware to receive this broadcast is $600.
There are more weather warning systems including high cost subscription services. This list is representative of tools available at a reasonable cost.
The more “tools” you have available, the less likely you are to be without sufficient weather information. More information can be found online at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/grr/index.php or my site at www.nk8x.net .
Art Snapper