National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce
NOAA Weather Radio
The Voice of the National Weather Service
The National Weather Service in Little Rock broadcasts weather information 24 hours a day on NOAA Weather Radio. Read all about it below.
 
For questions or comments about NOAA Weather Radio, or to report an outage, please e-mail us at SR-LZK.NWR@noaa.gov.
 
 

General Recall Information

For information on weather radio receiver recalls, go to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) web site.

Purchasing a NOAA Weather Radio

NOAA Weather Radios are available at many department and electronic stores. For a listing of vendors, click here.

 
Transmitters
 
The National Weather Service at Little Rock, Arkansas programs 12 transmitters across Arkansas, with 25 transmitters statewide (as shown in the diagram below).
 
NOAA Weather Radio transmitters across Arkansas.
In the picture: There are 25 NOAA Weather Radio transmitters serving Arkansas, with 6 of these located outside of the state: (1) Grove OK...162.525 MHz, (2) Springdale...162.400 MHz, (3) Harrison...162.525 MHz, (4) Yellville...162.500 MHz, (5) Cherokee Village...162.475 MHz, (6) Wardell MO...162.525 MHz, (7) Dyersburg TN...162.500 MHz, (8) Fayetteville...162.475 MHz, (9) Mountain View...162.450 MHz, (10) Jonesboro...162.550 MHz, (11) Fort Smith...162.550 MHz, (12) Russellville... 162.525 MHz, (13) Morrilton...162.475 MHz, (14) Russell... 162.400 MHz, (15) Memphis TN...162.475 MHz, (16) Mena...162.400 MHz, (17) High Peak...162.425 MHz, (18) Little Rock...162.550 MHz, (19) Marvell... 162.525 MHz, (20) Broken Bow OK...162.450 MHz, (21) Gurdon...162.475 MHz, (22) Star City...162.400 MHz, (23) Texarkana, TX...162.550 MHz, (24) El Dorado...162.525, and (25) Fountain Hill...162.475 MHz.
 
FIPS Codes & Program Schedule
 
Program your WR-SAME
Weather Radio with the FIPS Codes below!

Prefix the codes in the graphic below with a "005"
Example: Arkansas County would be "005001"

In the picture: Arkansas Federal Information Processing System (FIPS) codes for Arkansas. Click to enlarge.

 
Check out the broadcast schedule below!
Weather products and broadcast times for the
Little Rock listening area (12 transmitters).
 
Product Description Broadcast Times
Short-Term/Extended Forecast A 7 day forecast for areas within 40 miles of the transmitter 24 Hours/Day
State Weather Roundup Hourly reports of Sky Condition, Temperature, and Winds from reporting sites across Arkansas 24 Hours/Day
Temperature and Precipitation Table Daily Max/Min Temperatures and Precipitation from a list of reporting sites across Arkansas Available for four hours from issuance in the morning (between 630 am and 730 am local time) and evening (630 pm to 730 pm local time)
Climate Summaries Daily Max/Min Temperatures, Precipitation, Records, Sunrise/Sunset times, etc, and available from select transmitters (Little Rock, Harrison, Mount Ida, Pine Bluff, and Russellville) Available for two hours in the morning (700 am to 900 am local time) and evening (700 pm to 900 pm local time)
River Information River Levels and Forecast Stages for several tributaries and available from most but not all transmitters Available for three house from issuance (could vary from 830 am to 1130 am local time)
 
About NOAA Weather Radio
 

Under a January 1975 White House policy statement, NOAA Weather Radio became the only Government-operated radio system designated to provide direct weather warnings to private homes.

One of the main reasons people do not know about Weather Radio is because it is not broadcast on FM and AM bands. Weather Radio is found on six main frequencies, including: 162.400, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525 and 162.550 Megahertz. In order to get the broadcast, it is necessary to have a specialized receiver.

Weather Radio broadcasts originate at various National Weather Service offices nationwide. Each transmitter has a normal range of 35 to 40 miles, but with high quality receiver and antennas, the signal can be picked up at greater distances. .

Weather Radio provides more than severe weather warnings. Area forecasts, hourly weather reports, and summaries of past weather are just a few examples of what is available. This information is routinely updated. During adverse weather, along with forecasts and warnings, safety information is often broadcast.

When it becomes necessary to issue a severe weather warning, the National Weather Service will activate an alarm tone. Given an audible alert, you do not have to continuously monitor your radio when storms are coming. Since most Weather Radios are portable, you can take them camping, on vacations, or other trips.

Weather Radio Specific Area Message Encoders (SAME)

When severe storms are expected, you may not wish to get warning tones for all parts of the state. Weather Radio Specific Area Message Encoder (SAME) technology makes it possible to pick locations where tones are desired. Just program special codes (shown closer to the top of the page) for your county and surrounding counties, and you will be alerted when severe weather approaches. Look for radios with SAME technology in an electronics store near you!

Console Replacement System (CRS)

In the late 1990s, the Console Replacement System (CRS) introduced a computer generated voice to the weather radio audience. When National Weather Service text products were sent to CRS, the voice read the products to listeners automatically. With CRS, forecast and warning information reached listeners immediately, which was the main benefit of the system. Admittedly, the voice of CRS sounded a little different from the human voices heard in the past. The good news is that the computer voice quality vastly improved. In 2000, male ("Craig") and female ("Donna") voices hit the airwaves, and sounded lifelike. A couple of years later, "Craig" was replaced by "Tom", and the voices did not change for more than a decade. 

Broadcast Message Handler (BMH)

In 2016, CRS was replaced by the Broadcast Message Handler (BMH). While the functionality of BMH and CRS are similar, BMH is more robust and designed to accommodate changes more readily. BMH also requires less special-purpose hardware than CRS. While much of this is transparent to the public, there is something noticeable to point out. Text products read by the "Donna" and "Tom" voices of CRS are now presented by a "Paul" voice.   

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