New NOAA Weather Radio Transmitter Dedicated in Central Florida

(July 16, 2007) - Representatives from NOAA's National Weather Service offices in Tampa and Melbourne, Fla. joined U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, Sumter County officials and residents of The Villages in a dedication ceremony for a new NOAA Weather Radio All-Hazards transmitter.

When a series of devastating tornadoes moved across Central Florida on February 1, 2007 -- they resulted in 21 deaths, damaged more than 1,500 homes and caused an estimated $160 million in damages. The National Weather Service offices provided long lead time warnings for the tornadoes, but many residents in The Villages retirement community and surrounding areas failed to receive them. A subsequent survey revealed that The Villages were on the far edge of three overlapping transmitter coverage areas. The signals were not strong enough to activate the weather alerts on their NOAA Weather Radio receivers.

To resolve the problem, Sumter County, The Villages homeowners association and entertainment group and several public and private sector contributors combined their resources to build the Sumterville NOAA Weather Radio transmitter. The new transmitter now serves citizens in Sumter, Lake, Marion, Citrus and Hernando Counties.

As part of the dedication, WFO Ruskin Warning Coordination Meteorologist Dan Noah provided a presentation which detailed the coverage area and demonstrated the Specific Area Message Encoder (SAME) programming procedure. National Weather Service employees were also on hand at The Villages and at the Sumter County seat in Bushnell, Fla. to program the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazard receivers for residents.

"We estimate our NOAA Weather Radio coverage in Florida is about 99 percent and we are always looking for ways to extend our reach to 100 percent," said Noah. "The new Sumterville transmitter brings us one step closer to that goal."