NOAA All Hazards & Weather Radio
Listening Area and Tone Alert
Coverage
The
Weather Forecast Office in Grand Junction, Colorado
currently has 6
operational NOAA
Weather Radio (NWR) transmitters that broadcast
continuous weather information 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week across portions of Western Colorado and Eastern
Utah. In Colorado, the transmitters are located near
Grand Junction, Montrose, Durango, and Glenwood Springs. In
Utah, transmitters are located near Vernal and Moab. In the future, NWR will be
expanding, with potential listening areas in Cortez,
Craig, and Steamboat Springs.
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NOAA Weather
Radio Listening Areas
in western Colorado and eastern Utah.
Click image for larger picture |
Click this
image for a nationwide list of NOAA
Weather Radio frequencies |
The following is a
summary for each current transmitter that includes
their respective listening areas and tone alert
coverage. The tone alert represents an area
that will receive both the SAME alert and 1050 Hz tone
when any weather warning is issued from the Weather
Forecast Office in Grand Junction. This does NOT mean
that other counties/areas within the listening zone
will not hear the warning. It will be broadcast on NWR;
however, the broadcast cycle will not be interrupted
by the 2 tone alerts.
NOAA
Weather Radio stations operated by the NWS Grand
Junction include:
Grand Junction,
CO - 162.550 MHz |
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Montrose, CO -
162.450 MHz |
WXM-55 sits atop the Grand Mesa
in Mesa County.
Good listening coverage includes the
entire Grand Valley from Loma to
Palisade, extending to the west end
of DeBeque Canyon. Average listening
coverage also includes the north face of the Uncompahgre Plateau and portions of the
Grand Mesa. The counties that will receive
the warning tone alerts include: Mesa and
Garfield. Weather broadcasts from this
radio are repeated on 106.7 FM in the Grand
Valley and in Parachute, courtesy of the
Colorado Department of Transportation. |
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At an
elevation of 10,200 feet, KXI-90 broadcasts
from Storm King Peak in
southeast Montrose county. Good listening
coverage can be found from Montrose to
Delta, with average coverage as far north
as Cedaredge and Paonia. Good coverage
can be found as far east as Blue Mesa Dam
near Sapinero. Coverage to the south is
good to Ridgway along US Hwy 550. The
counties that will receive the warning
tone alerts include: Montrose, Delta,
Gunnison, and Ouray. Weather broadcasts
from this radio are repeated on 99.1 FM,
courtesy of the Colorado Department of
Transportation. |
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Glenwood
Springs, CO - 162.500 MHz |
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Durango, CO -
162.425 MHz |
WWG-43 is
located atop Sunlight Peak, just south of
Glenwood Springs. This radio broadcasts weather
information targeting the
I-70 corridor from Rifle to Glenwood
Springs, and south to Aspen along Highway 82. The
counties that will receive the warning
tone alerts include: Garfield, Eagle, and Pitkin.
Weather broadcasts from this radio are
repeated on 107.9 FM, and 530 AM, courtesy
of the Colorado Department of
Transportation. |
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KWN-54
transmits weather broadcasts 24 hours a
day to the Durango area on a frequency of
162.425 mHZ. The transmitter housing is
located on Missionary Ridge in La Plata
County. Coverage will be best in La Plata
County, but residents in Cortez and
Pagosa Springs may be able to
hear it too (depending on your
line-of-site location).
Areas that will receive the
warning tone alerts include: La Plata and
portions of Archuleta Counties in Colorado, and
portions of San Juan and Rio Arriba
Counties in New Mexico. |
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Vernal, UT -
162.400 MHz |
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Moab, UT -
162.475 MHz |
Atop Asphalt
Ridge, this WXM-23 is located in
Uintah County just southwest of Vernal.
Good coverage includes most of the
Eastern Uinta Basin from Duchesne to
Vernal, and from Ouray to Bonanza.
Eastern extent goes to Dinosaur, just
east of the Colorado/Utah border. The
Northern extent of the signal hits the
south facing slopes of the Eastern Uinta
mountains, including Dry Fork. The counties
that will receive the warning tone alerts
include: Uintah, and eastern Duchesne. |
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WNG-556, the
newest of 6 NOAA Weather Radios operated
by the NWS Office in Grand Junction,
broadcasts from a site 12 miles southeast
of Moab, Utah. The transmitter is located
at an elevation of 8638 feet on Bald Mesa
in the La Sal Mountains. The primary
coverage area of this station is east
central Utah, generally between Thompson
Springs and Monticello. The Utah counties that
will receive the warning tone alerts
include Grand, northern San Juan,
and southeast Emery. |
Programming Schedule
The
programming schedule consists of taped messages which
run continuously and are routinely revised and updated
to keep western Colorado and eastern Utah listeners
informed of the latest weather information affecting
the region. The entire broadcast cycle typically runs
from 4 to 6 minutes in length, but may vary as
conditions warrant. Routine products broadcast on the
radios include, but are not limited to:
1. Regional Weather Synopsis - an
overview (in layman terms) of the synoptic weather
patterns affecting, or expected to affect western
Colorado and/or eastern Utah within the 5-day forecast
period, with emphasis given to the first 48 hours.
Updated 3 times a day or as needed.
2. Hazardous Weather Outlook - A daily
product, issued early each morning but updated as
needed. This outlook extends across a 7-day period,
alerting the public to any weather, hydrologic, or
no-precipitation even that has a significant chance of
creating a harmful impact on people over the next week.
These evens may include, but are not limited to,
lightning, heavy rain, significant snowfall, very dry
conditions associated with fire potential and behavior,
strong winds, dense fog, bitter cold, and extremely hot
temperatures. The outlook will be appended with a
spotter statement, expressing whether or not weather
spotters will be needed that day.
3. Local Forecasts - a 7-day forecast for
sky condition, temperatures, precipitation, and wind.
4. Current Regional Weather Conditions -
updated hourly, this product gives complete hourly
weather observations for selected cities in western
Colorado and eastern Utah on the respective radios, as
well as additional regional cities across the western
U.S.
5. Nowcasts
- a short term forecast, concentrating on the next 1
to 3 hours, typically for a specific area or
location. The forecast will incorporate current
Doppler radar, satellite and automated/manned surface
observations, to provide accurate and descriptive
short-range outlooks.
6. Other products - are
broadcast as needed. These include Weather
Warnings/Watches, Special Weather Statements, Public
Information Statements, Avalanche Bulletins, and
extreme Fire Weather Statements. Also,
educational and promotional recordings covering various
topics of interest to the general public are broadcast
occasionally.
Weather Warning Alarms
When severe weather
threatens a location within the County Warning
Forecast Area (CWFA), the routine broadcast cycle will
be interrupted in order to activate the
warning alarm. This alarm triggers specially-built
weather radios to sound, letting the listener know
that important live weather information will be
broadcast immediately. Tests (during clear weather) of
this warning alarm feature are normally conducted
every Wednesday, between the hours of 11 am and noon.
Some new
NOAA Weather Radio models have a SAME (Specific Area
Message Encoding) alarm capability. To learn more
about it:
How do I get a NOAA
Weather Radio?
If I don't have NWR in my
area, what can I do?
If you have suggestions or comments concerning the
Grand Junction weather radio program, please contact:
National Weather Service
792 Eagle Dr.
Grand Junction, Co. 81506-8646
(970) 243-7007 (weekdays, 8-4 pm)
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