For SAME codes and related information, click here.

NOAA Weather Radio is a service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, broadcasting on seven VHF Band frequencies ranging from 162.400 MHz to 162.550 MHz. These frequencies are outside the normal AM or FM broadcast bands, and are therefore not found on the average home radio.

These broadcasts originate from National Weather Service Offices across the Unites States and its territories. As the Voice of the National Weather Service, more than 400 FM transmitter sites provide continuous broadcasts of the latest and up-to-date weather information.

NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts can be heard as far away as 40 miles from the antenna site. The effective range depends on many factors, particularly the terrain, the quality of the receiver, and current weather conditions.

The broadcast schedule consists of recorded messages which are repeated every three to five minutes and are routinely revised to provide the latest and up-to-date information. The broadcasts on NOAA Weather Radio are tailored to the weather needs of the people within the receiving area, and include a variety of programming subjects.

During severe weather and/or other potentially hazardous events, we interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to substitute severe weather information (including warnings, watches, etc.), and/or other hazardous informational messages. Special NOAA Weather Radio receivers can be activated, sounding an alarm indicating that important information soon follows, and listeners should monitor their weather radios for the information. Also, tests of the warning alarm are normally conducted by the National Weather Service every Wednesday between 11:00 AM and Noon.

In extreme cases, NOAA Weather Radio will be used to alert the public of non-weather related emergencies, such as earthquakes, toxic or chemical spills, civil emergencies, national attacks, or nuclear blasts.

Many local retailers or electronics stores sell NOAA Weather Radios. Also, many portable radios are including a weather band as well. With NOAA Weather Radio, you'll have the most dependable source of weather information at your fingertips. From day-to-day weather forecasts, to warnings of potentially dangerous storms, NOAA Weather Radio will be ready to alert you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year! Be Ready! Be Prepared! Be a NOAA Weather Radio listener today.

You may also listen to NOAA Weather Radio LIVE on the Internet via Streaming Audio:

[ Bowling Green ] [ Horse Cave ] [ Lexington ] [ Louisville ]

 NWR BROADCASTS IN THE WFO LOUISVILLE COUNTY WARNING AREA

[ a printable map of local NWR transmitters ]

• KIH41 - 162.400 MHz - Serving East Central Kentucky, originating from NWS Louisville, with a transmitter site in Lexington (also rebroadcast from Madison County on WWF82A, WWF82B, and WWF82C on 162.525 MHz)
  
• KIH43 - 162.475 MHz - Serving North Central Kentucky and South Central Indiana, originating from NWS Louisville (also rebroadcast from Elizabethtown on KIH43A on 162.550 MHz, and rebroadcast from a transmitter near Ekron in Meade County on KZZ64 on 162.450 MHz)
• KXI40 - 162.550 MHz - Service Southern Indiana and Northwest Kentucky, originating from NWS Paducah, with a transmitter site near Evansville (rebroadcast on KZZ61, 162.475 MHz, from a transmitter near Owensboro)
  
• KIH44 - 162.550 MHz - Serving South Central Kentucky, originating from NWS Jackson, with a transmitter site in Somerset.
  
• KIH45 - 162.400 MHz - Serving South Central Kentucky, originating from NWS Louisville, with a transmitter site in Bowling Green (rebroadcast from a transmitter near Burkesville in Cumberland County on KZZ62 on 162.475 MHz )
  
• WNG570 - 162.500 MHz - Serving South Central and Central Kentucky, originating from NWS Louisville, with a transmitter site near Horse Cave (rebroadcast from a transmitter near Campbellsville on  KZZ63 on 162.525 MHz )

THE REGULAR PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE FOR OUR NOAA WEATHER RADIOS

• Hazardous Weather Outlook - Weather threats to the area over the next seven days.

• The Regional Weather Synopsis - Summarizes the weather for the next 12 to 24 hours across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, including Kentucky and Indiana.
  

• The Local 7 Day Forecast - Valid For the NOAA Weather Radio listening area.
  

• The Hourly Weather Roundup - Summarizes the current weather conditions for cities across Kentucky and surrounding states.
  

• Climatic Information - Includes temperatures and rainfall, climatological normals, and accumulations.
  

• River Summaries - Stage and forecast information for the Ohio River as well as other reservoir and and lake data.

INFORMATION AS NEEDED

• Severe Weather Watches, Warnings, and Advisories - Important information regarding the location and movements of severe local storms.

• The NOWCast - A short term forecast valid for the next 1 to 6 hours. Updated as often as necessary to reflect changing weather conditions.

• Public Information Statements - Give extra value added information, such as announcements, climatological anomalies, etc.

• Other Information - Including the UV Index spring through autumn, national high and low temperature extremes, and 8 to 14 day long range outlooks.

SPECIFIC AREA MESSAGE ENCODING (SAME)

The National Weather Service has made significant improvements to NOAA Weather Radio that allows listeners to obtain only the warnings, watches, and other information that they desire to receive.

This new technology (called SAME) broadcasts the same information via automated voice, but adds a digital code that enables specially built receivers to decode the information and receive only the information desired by the listener. This way the listener can receive severe warnings, watches and statements for only the the county they live in, or a group of surrounding counties, and not information for the entire NWR broadcast area.

All current and older model NOAA Weather Radio receivers will continue to receive all of the information from the National Weather Service, but it is only the weather radios with the SAME capability that can be programmed to receive only information for specific counties.

Since the SAME codes are fully compatible with the FCC's Emergency Alert System, it is possible in the near future that new television sets, pagers, cellular telephones and other electronic devices will be able to receive these SAME coded messages.

If you have purchased a new weather radio with the SAME capability, and desire to program it for specific counties in your NOAA Weather Radio listening area, you will need the proper county codes (FIPS). A listing of county, SAME code, and transmitter associations is available for:

Kentucky Indiana.

Only the most imminent life- and property-threatening hazards are broadcasted with the SAME signal and 1050 Hertz warning alarm tone, where the public has to take immediate action to protect themselves and their property. An operational guideline is that messages are alerted only for hazards urgent enough to warrant waking people up in the "middle of the night" or otherwise interrupting someone's activities at any time.

The following messages are always alerted on a NWR Transmitter if they apply to any part of its coverage area:

MESSAGE EVENT CODE

• Tornado Warning: TOR
• Severe Thunderstorm Warning: SVR
• Flash Flood Warning: FFW
• Tornado Watch: TOA
• Severe Thunderstorm: Watch SVA
• Hurricane Watch: HUA
• Hurricane Warning: HUW
• National Emergency: EAN

The following messages are sometimes alerted if they apply to the coverage area of the transmitter, depending on the circumstances.

MESSAGE EVENT CODE

• Severe Weather Statement: SVS
• Flash Flood Watch: FFA
• Winter Storm Warning: WSW
• High Wind Warning: HWW
• Tsunami Watch: TSA
• Tsunami Warning: TSW
• River Flood Watch: FLA
• River Flood Warning: FLW
• Local non-weather Emergencies: CEM

Miscellaneous Resources

The Official NWR Web Site, and information on the automated voices. The CRS Web Site NOAA Weather Radio [ PDF Color Brochure ] [ Text Version ] NOAA Weather Radio  FAQ Page