Always on, no network needed
NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) broadcasts continuously on seven dedicated VHF frequencies. Battery and hand-crank models operate without cell service, internet, or grid power. During major disasters when cell networks fail from overload or tower damage, a weather radio continues receiving official NWS alerts.
Alerts for your county only
Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) technology lets you program your radio with your county FIPS code so it only alerts for your area. Without SAME, the radio alerts for the entire broadcast region, including counties hundreds of miles away. Your county code is available at weather.gov/nwr.
Where to keep it
Keep a weather radio in the bedroom (for nighttime alerts) and a second portable unit in your emergency kit. Test monthly. Replace batteries annually or use a hand-crank model as backup.
- Works without cell, internet, or power
- Program your county SAME code for local-only alerts
- Keep one in the bedroom for nighttime alerts
- Battery or hand-crank models for outage resilience
- Test monthly, replace batteries annually
- NOAA Weather Radio — NWS Weather Radio network and SAME programming.