Setting up a weather radio at home

NOAA Weather Radio is a network of stations that broadcast weather information straight from National Weather Service offices, 24 hours a day. The broadcasts carry warnings, watches, forecasts, current conditions and other hazard information. A radio with the SAME feature, short for Specific Area Message Encoding, stays quiet until an alert comes in for the area you've programmed. Then it sounds a 1050 Hz alarm tone and plays the message. Every alert carries a code giving the type of message, the counties affected and when it expires. Specially designed weather radios can also connect to other alerting devices for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or low vision.

What you need

• A NOAA Weather Radio with the SAME feature
• Batteries of the type the radio takes
• Your county's six-digit SAME code
• The radio's instructions

Steps

1. 1

   Find your county's SAME code

   Each county, parish, independent city or marine area has a six-digit SAME code. Look it up on the National Weather Service's SAME location codes page, call 1-888-NWR-SAME (1-888-697-7263), or text "Go" to that number.

   5 min

2. 2

   Put the batteries in

   Keep the radio plugged in, with batteries in it so it keeps working when the power goes out.

   2 min

3. 3

   Set it where it picks up the station

   Put it near a window facing the direction of the station, away from other electronics. If reception is still poor, an external antenna can help.

   5 min

4. 4

   Program the code

   Follow the radio's instructions to enter your county's code. Most SAME radios take several codes, so you can add nearby counties too.

   5 min

5. 5

   Tune it to a SAME station

   Use the station listed for your county. Don't set it to a louder or clearer station that isn't a SAME channel for your area.

   2 min

6. 6

   Listen for the weekly test

   Every National Weather Service office tests each of its transmitters once a week, with the 1050 Hz alarm and the SAME tones. The day and time are set by your local office, and the test moves to the next good-weather day if severe weather is threatening.

   1 min

An annotated example

What to do next

Program your county's code, put fresh batteries in, and listen for the next weekly test. Building an emergency kit and keeping it current covers the rest of what to keep on hand.