NOAA Weather Radio

NOAA Weather Radio is a free public service provided by the National Weather Service. It consists of continuous broadcasts of current weather conditions, forecasts, and warnings localized for your area.

 At the Wilmington National Weather Service, we operate five weather radio transmitters serving portions of the eastern Carolinas. The map below displays the frequency and coverage area of each transmitter. The six-digit numbers displayed below each county name are the FIPS (Federal Information Processing System) codes used to program weather radios with the SAME feature (more information below).

• Winnabow, NC - 162.550 MHz (KHB-31) serving Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender and southern Sampson counties, and the North Carolina coastal waters between Surf City and Little River Inlet.
• Aynor, SC - 162.400 MHz (KEC-95) serving western Brunswick, southern Columbus, southern Dillon, eastern Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion and Williamsburg counties and the South Carolina coastal waters between Little River Inlet and Cape Romain.
• Florence, SC - 162.550 MHz (WXJ-22) serving Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Marion, Marlboro, and Williamsburg counties, and relaying warnings for Chesterfield, Clarendon, Kershaw, Lee, and Sumter counties.
• St. Pauls, NC - 162.475 MHz (WXL-50) serving Moore, Harnett, Hoke, Scotland, Cumberland, Marlboro, Dillon, Robeson, Bladen and Columbus.
• Georgetown, SC - 162.500 MHz (WNG-628) serving Georgetown, eastern Williamsburg County and the coastal waters from Little River Inlet to South Santee River, SC.

Currently, weather radio broadcasts are automatically generated using a computer system called CRS - Console Replacement System. A computer "reads" our forecasts and warnings on the air as soon as they are issued, saving time which used to be spent printing, editing, and manually reading the forecasts. In a severe weather situation, these extra few minutes can mean the difference between life and death.

Weather radios can be purchased at most electronics and department stores, or over the internet. Different models are available with a variety of features and prices. Some models can even be customized with your county FIPS code so they will only alarm with your warnings -- and not for a storm 50 miles away. See the transmitter coverage map above for local FIPS codes, or this page for FIPS codes for anywhere in the country.

For additional information on NOAA Weather Radio, see the national page at: http://weather.gov/nwr/