Public Information Statement

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
500 AM CST FRI FEB 23 2007

...TODAY IS NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS AND EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
AWARENESS DAY....

SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK CONCLUDES TODAY WITH A CLOSER LOOK AT
NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS AND THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM. NOAA
WEATHER RADIO IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE VOICE OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE. NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS PROVIDES CONTINUOUSLY
UPDATED WEATHER INFORMATION...24 HOURS A DAY...EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PERSONNEL PREPARE WEATHER INFORMATION THAT
IS NORMALLY BROADCAST IN THREE TO FIVE MINUTE CYCLES. THIS
INFORMATION INCLUDES FORECASTS...WARNINGS...CURRENT CONDITIONS...
CLIMATE DATA...AND OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

TO RECEIVE BROADCASTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...A SPECIAL
RADIO CAPABLE OF RECEIVING SIGNALS IN THE VERY HIGH FREQUENCY...ALSO
KNOWN AS VHF... PUBLIC SERVICE BAND IS REQUIRED. NATIONALLY...
FREQUENCIES FROM 162.400 TO 162.550 MEGAHERTZ ARE USED FOR NOAA
WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZRDS BROADCASTS. ALABAMA IS SERVED BY 29
TRANSMITTERS WHICH COVER APPROXIMATELY 95 PERCENT OF THE CITIZENS IN
ALABAMA.

NOAA WEATHER RADIO IS USEFUL ANYTIME...BUT IT IS MOST IMPORTANT
DURING SEVERE WEATHER. WHEN THREATENING WEATHER DEVELOPS...NORMAL
BROADCASTS ARE INTERRUPTED BY IMPORTANT SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION.
WATCHES...WARNINGS... AND STATEMENTS ARE GIVEN THE HIGHEST PRIORITY
AND ARE UPDATED FREQUENTLY.

IN AN EMERGENCY...EACH NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS STATION WILL
TRANSMIT A WARNING ALARM TONE SIGNAL FOLLOWED BY INFORMATION ON THE
EMERGENCY SITUATION. THIS SIGNAL IS CAPABLE OF ACTIVATING SPECIALLY
DESIGNED RECEIVERS BY INCREASING THE VOLUME OR PRODUCING A VISUAL OR
AUDIBLE ALARM. NOT ALL WEATHER BAND RECEIVERS HAVE THIS
CAPABILITY...BUT ALL RADIOS THAT RECEIVE NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL
HAZARDS CAN RECEIVE EMERGENCY BROADCASTS. THE WARNING ALARM DEVICE
IS TESTED EACH WEDNESDAY...USUALLY BETWEEN 11 AM AND NOON...WEATHER
PERMITTING.

A FEATURE AVAILABLE IN NEWER WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS RECEIVERS IS
CALLED SAME...WHICH STANDS FOR SPECIFIC AREA MESSAGE ENCODING. SAME
TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS RADIOS TO BE PROGRAMMED FOR THE RECEPTION OF WATCH
AND WARNING MESSAGES FOR CERTAIN COUNTIES IN YOUR AREA...WITHOUT
DISTURBING USERS FOR WARNINGS OUTSIDE OF THE PROGRAMMED COUNTIES.
LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS ARE URGED TO USE NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR UP TO
DATE WEATHER INFORMATION AND MAY FREELY REBROADCAST THE NOAA WEATHER
RADIO ALL HAZARDS TRANSMISSION.

ANOTHER SOURCE OF WEATHER INFORMATION IS THE EMERGENCY ALERT
SYSTEM...ALSO KNOWN AS E A S...WHICH REPLACED THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST
SYSTEM. THE E A S IS A SYSTEM OF COMMUNICATION LINKS THAT UTILIZE
DATA IN A DIGITAL FORM. IT IS A RELIABLE MEANS OF LINKING THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCIES...AND
VARIOUS BROADCAST MEDIA TOGETHER. THE E A S WILL HELP PARTICIPATING
RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS RECEIVE AND RELAY WEATHER WARNINGS AND
OTHER EMERGENCY INFORMATION IN A TIMELY MANNER.

FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS CONCERNING SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK...
VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/BMX...OR CONTACT JIM
STEFKOVICH...METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
BIRMINGHAM...AT 205-664-3010...EXTENSION 2 2 2.

$$

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