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Programming
Your NOAA Weather Radio
NOAA Weather All-Hazard Radios are made
with many features. Many are listed as "programmable," but
exactly "what" you can program varies from radio model to radio
model. With a marine warning program that can have as many as 300
individual Special Marine Warnings per year, proper programming of your
radio receiver may eliminate some troubles, especially if you are not
interested in marine warnings.
All National Weather Service warnings and watches are issued using the Specific Message Area Encoding (SAME) technology. This means each watch or warning is preceeded and followed by three squawking tones. Embedded in those tones is a code including the type of watch or warning, the area covered under the warning using pre-set zones defined by the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) and SAME codes, and the duration of the warning or watch. You may be familiar with these squawks when listening to an Emergency Alert System test or alert on cable television or commercial radio. National-level Emergency Alert System testing and alerts are also becoming available on satellite television and radio systems as well.
After unpacking your weather radio from the box, you should follow the manufacturer's instructions for setting the SAME codes. These are 6-digit numbers that allow you to filter incoming messages so that you only hear warnings that match the areas you set. SAME codes is a family of areas defined by number codes that includes FIPS, which is an older system specifically assigning a unique number to every county in the nation. SAME codes include both those county numbers and numbers for specific marine areas. Click this link to see the SAME area codes for every state.
BE WARNED...WHEN YOU FIRST TURN ON A NOAA WEATHER RADIO WITHOUT PROGRAMMING IT...IT WILL ACTIVATE FOR EVERY WARNING OR WATCH THAT COMES FROM THE TRANSMITTER!
Use the following codes to set the area for which you are interested in hearing warnings:
012087 - Monroe County, Florida
For setting specific Special Marine Warning areas
077031 - Florida Bay, which includes waters north of the Keys from Seven Mile Bridge through Jewfish Creek/U.S. Highway One
077032 - The Gulf Waters north of the Lower Keys (waters west of a Cape Sable to Seven Mile Bridge line to Key West)
077033 - Offshore Gulf Waters 20 to 60 nautical miles west of Mainland Monroe County, which includes waters out to 50 nautical miles north of Key West.
077052 - Atlantic Waters from Ocean Reef to Craig Key (small island at the east end of Channel Five Bridge) out to 20 nautical miles
077053 - Atlantic Waters from Craig Key to the West End of the Seven Mile Bridge out to 20 nautical miles.
077054 - Atlantic Waters from the West End of the Seven Mile Bridge to Key West out to 20 nautical miles.
077072 - Atlantic Waters from Ocean Reef to Craig Key 20 to 60 nautical miles offshore (note, this is BEYOND the reef)
077073 - Atlantic Waters from Craig Key to the West End of the Seven Mile Bridge 20 to 60 nautical miles offshore (this is BEYOND the reef)
077074 - Atlantic Waters from the West End of the Seven Mile Bridge 20 to 60 nautical miles offshore (this is BEYOND the reef)
077075 - Waters from Key West to 20 nautical miles west of Dry Tortugas...extending to 60 nautical miles offshore to the south and up to 20 nautical miles north into the Gulf of Mexico. (note, this is a large area involving shallow and deep offshore waters west of Key West, and covers the route from Key West through Dry Tortugas)
IF YOUR RADIO ALLOWS YOU TO SET THE TYPE OF WATCH AND WARNING for activation, then please follow the manufacturer's directions.
IF YOUR RADIO DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO SET THE TYPE OF WATCH AND WARNING, but DOES ALLOW YOU TO SET THE 6-DIGIT SAME CODES, then consider the following solutions if you feel your radio is activating too frequently for your needs:
1. ONLY INTERESTED IN LAND WARNINGS SUCH AS TORNADO WARNINGS, SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS, ETC.
Consider setting your SAME code only to 012087. Special Marine Warnings only can be issued using the codes beginning with "077" listed above. Therefore, they will be ignored if you set you SAME code only to a land-based county code like 012087 (Monroe County).
2. I LIVE IN ISLAMORADA, BUT I LIKE TO BOAT IN FLORIDA BAY OR OFFSHORE WHALE HARBOR.
Consider setting your SAME codes to 012087, to capture warnings and watches for land-based events such as tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings. Then, also set 077031 and 077052 to get warnings for those zones. Should we issue a warning for waters west of Craig Key and therefore not of your area of concern, your radio will not activate. If you like to go far offshore (beyond 20 nautical miles), then consider adding 077072 as well.
3. I LIVE ABOARD A VESSEL ANCHORED IN THE KEY WEST ANCHORAGE.
Consider setting your SAME codes to 012087 in order to receive high-impact land-based warnings such as Tornado Warnings. Also set to 077032, in order to receive marine warnings for the Gulf side of the Lower Keys out to 20 nautical miles...which includes all the waters along the north side of Key West.
All National Weather Service warnings and watches are issued using the Specific Message Area Encoding (SAME) technology. This means each watch or warning is preceeded and followed by three squawking tones. Embedded in those tones is a code including the type of watch or warning, the area covered under the warning using pre-set zones defined by the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) and SAME codes, and the duration of the warning or watch. You may be familiar with these squawks when listening to an Emergency Alert System test or alert on cable television or commercial radio. National-level Emergency Alert System testing and alerts are also becoming available on satellite television and radio systems as well.
After unpacking your weather radio from the box, you should follow the manufacturer's instructions for setting the SAME codes. These are 6-digit numbers that allow you to filter incoming messages so that you only hear warnings that match the areas you set. SAME codes is a family of areas defined by number codes that includes FIPS, which is an older system specifically assigning a unique number to every county in the nation. SAME codes include both those county numbers and numbers for specific marine areas. Click this link to see the SAME area codes for every state.
BE WARNED...WHEN YOU FIRST TURN ON A NOAA WEATHER RADIO WITHOUT PROGRAMMING IT...IT WILL ACTIVATE FOR EVERY WARNING OR WATCH THAT COMES FROM THE TRANSMITTER!
Use the following codes to set the area for which you are interested in hearing warnings:
012087 - Monroe County, Florida
For setting specific Special Marine Warning areas
077031 - Florida Bay, which includes waters north of the Keys from Seven Mile Bridge through Jewfish Creek/U.S. Highway One
077032 - The Gulf Waters north of the Lower Keys (waters west of a Cape Sable to Seven Mile Bridge line to Key West)
077033 - Offshore Gulf Waters 20 to 60 nautical miles west of Mainland Monroe County, which includes waters out to 50 nautical miles north of Key West.
077052 - Atlantic Waters from Ocean Reef to Craig Key (small island at the east end of Channel Five Bridge) out to 20 nautical miles
077053 - Atlantic Waters from Craig Key to the West End of the Seven Mile Bridge out to 20 nautical miles.
077054 - Atlantic Waters from the West End of the Seven Mile Bridge to Key West out to 20 nautical miles.
077072 - Atlantic Waters from Ocean Reef to Craig Key 20 to 60 nautical miles offshore (note, this is BEYOND the reef)
077073 - Atlantic Waters from Craig Key to the West End of the Seven Mile Bridge 20 to 60 nautical miles offshore (this is BEYOND the reef)
077074 - Atlantic Waters from the West End of the Seven Mile Bridge 20 to 60 nautical miles offshore (this is BEYOND the reef)
077075 - Waters from Key West to 20 nautical miles west of Dry Tortugas...extending to 60 nautical miles offshore to the south and up to 20 nautical miles north into the Gulf of Mexico. (note, this is a large area involving shallow and deep offshore waters west of Key West, and covers the route from Key West through Dry Tortugas)
IF YOUR RADIO ALLOWS YOU TO SET THE TYPE OF WATCH AND WARNING for activation, then please follow the manufacturer's directions.
IF YOUR RADIO DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO SET THE TYPE OF WATCH AND WARNING, but DOES ALLOW YOU TO SET THE 6-DIGIT SAME CODES, then consider the following solutions if you feel your radio is activating too frequently for your needs:
1. ONLY INTERESTED IN LAND WARNINGS SUCH AS TORNADO WARNINGS, SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS, ETC.
Consider setting your SAME code only to 012087. Special Marine Warnings only can be issued using the codes beginning with "077" listed above. Therefore, they will be ignored if you set you SAME code only to a land-based county code like 012087 (Monroe County).
2. I LIVE IN ISLAMORADA, BUT I LIKE TO BOAT IN FLORIDA BAY OR OFFSHORE WHALE HARBOR.
Consider setting your SAME codes to 012087, to capture warnings and watches for land-based events such as tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings. Then, also set 077031 and 077052 to get warnings for those zones. Should we issue a warning for waters west of Craig Key and therefore not of your area of concern, your radio will not activate. If you like to go far offshore (beyond 20 nautical miles), then consider adding 077072 as well.
3. I LIVE ABOARD A VESSEL ANCHORED IN THE KEY WEST ANCHORAGE.
Consider setting your SAME codes to 012087 in order to receive high-impact land-based warnings such as Tornado Warnings. Also set to 077032, in order to receive marine warnings for the Gulf side of the Lower Keys out to 20 nautical miles...which includes all the waters along the north side of Key West.
