High-tech radios provide weather condition alerts
A voice called out from the garage.
“Dad, do you have an umbrella I can use? I got soaked yesterday.”
Bonnie was leaving for school on a dark and stormy morning.
The rain was rumbling on the garage roof, the kind English novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton might have described, in his much-derided way, as “a torrent that brings the threat of hail and violent winds through your neighborhood (this is Lawrence in the spring, after all), whipping the treetops – mostly the maples, for the pin oak is a much hardier species — and bringing questions of whether you closed your car windows and if you’ll end up with a wet sticky back again on the way to work.”
Bonnie asked me again to get her an umbrella. But it wasn’t in the corner where I had left it.
“Somebody took mine,” I said. “Check the closet.”
“I don’t have time,” she called out, getting in her car.
As she left, the TV meteorologist was talking about more thunderstorms popping up during the day, with possibilities of high winds and hail. He also stressed the importance of having a weather radio to be ready for severe weather.
County-by-county coverage
Weather radios are different from the radios that most of us have in our cars and homes.
They’re tuned specifically to the seven frequencies in the 162 MHz FM band used for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio’s network. The frequencies are 162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525 and 162.550 MHz.
The network broadcasts continuous weather information, such as watches, warnings and forecasts from more than 850 radio transmitters across the United States and its territories. The network also is used to broadcast the Federal Communication Commission’s Emergency Alert System for all types of hazards, both natural and man-made.
The NWR radio receivers also use a technology, Specific Area Message Encoding, to program in the codes for each specific county or parish in the country. This lets you filter out the alerts for the counties you don’t want.
For example, putting in the SAME code of 020045 will allow you to get only the specific information being broadcast for Douglas County. You can get alarms, voice broadcasts and special alert messages that show up on the radio’s LCD screen, such as tornado watches or flood warnings.
Weather on the go
Northeast Kansas under tornado watchThe NOAA Web site lists 13 manufacturers that make residential weather radio receivers. Prices range between $20 and $200.
One of the smallest models is the Oregon Scientific WR103 Portable Weather Radio, which is marketed for people who like to travel, hike, camp or boat.
Its dimensions are 2.5 inches by 5 inches by 1.25 inches. Prices on it vary on different Internet shopping sites from $25 to $55.
It lets you program SAME codes for up to six counties. It also comes with a stand, so you can prop it up on a desk. It uses three AA batteries and comes with an AC/DC adapter.
Another portable model is the Midland Emergency Alert Hand Held Weather Radio Model 74250C. It is even smaller: 1 inch by 4 inches by 2.75 inches. It costs about $60.
Radio Shack has a 7-Channel Handheld Weatheradio for about $50.
Desktop models
One of the most popular desktop models sold by the weatherradiostore.com is the Midland Model WR300, which offers SAME coding technology and also doubles as an AM/FM radio. It comes with emergency battery backup, which will provide up to 30 hours of operation if the power goes out. It costs about $80.
Another model in the same price range is the Reecom Emergency Alert Weather Radio Model R1650, which offers SAME coding for up to 20 counties. It also doubles as a clock with an AM/FM radio. It also lets you choose whether you want a siren sound, a voice alarm or a flashing indicator when there’s an alert.
According to weatherradiostore.com, the easiest one to program is the ShareCom Graphical Emergency Alert Weather Radio Model WRP500 ($149).
It has an LCD display that lets you scroll to your state. The radio automatically detects the frequency channel and selects the code for the county you want automatically, eliminating the text-entry system of other radios.
Solving the mystery
After Bonnie left, I hunted around and found a small black umbrella in a closet.
As I walked downtown later in the day for lunch, it was drizzling and a jolt of wind made me realize how flimsy the little umbrella was.
Passing The Raven, a bookstore known for its mystery novels, I decided to look into who took my missing umbrella.
“W is for Whodunit . . . and for someone else,” I thought, smiling.
That evening, my suspicions were confirmed.
The guilty party had just put a pizza on the table for Bonnie and another daughter, Julie.
“I’m sorry. Julie took mine, so I took yours,” she confessed. “It was a domino effect.”
Now that I had my umbrella back, all I needed was to get a weather radio to alert me to the next dark and stormy night.