Getting a NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio provides continuous weather information and hazard access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from our local National Weather Service in Fort Worth including:

• Warnings
• Watches
• Forecasts 
• Other hazard information

Richardson Emergency Management works closely with the National Weather Service to provide timely and informative alerts over NOAA All-Hazards Radios. Every home and business should purchase a NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio.

Benefits

• A NOAA radio is completely separate from your cell phone, including a wall plug and back up batteries.
• Getting alerts through multiple methods (in this case via radio signal) provides real time and actionable information.
• Average tornado warning time is just 13 minutes, this means you need to receive the alert the moment it is issued from the National Weather Service.
• Most severe weather alerts for high wind, hail and tornadoes take place in the afternoon and evening hours. A NOAA radio can provide an alert and wake you (models are available with a strobe light, sound or bed shakers), allowing life saving minutes to take action- moving your body to a safe place such as an interior closet, bathroom or basement

Programming

With a NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio you can tune to 162.400MHz, which is channel 1 on most models, and receive 24/7 weather information affecting the City of Richardson and other nearby areas directly from the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth. Use the Specific Area Messaging Encoding (SAME) codes 048085 for Collin County and 048113 for Dallas County.

If your NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio has an alert function, you can receive alerts even when the radio is silent. When the NWR transmitter sends out a special tone, your silent NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio picks that up and sounds an alert tone then broadcasts the emergency message automatically.

Look for the Public Alert logo on any weather radio you purchase. The logo means that it is certified by the Consumer Electronics Association to function correctly with National Weather Service and Emergency Alert System warnings.  

To purchase a NOAA Radio, visit our local camping or technology retailers which stock different models that range in price from $20.00 to $70.00 or check with online retailers and have it delivered.