A storm system near the Hawaiian Islands is expected to bring periods of heavy rainfall, strong winds, and isolated strong to severe thunderstorms through Friday. Several rounds of severe thunderstorms are forecast to impact parts of the Great Plains into the Midwest this weekend into next week. Moderate to heavy rainfall and high elevation snow is expected this weekend over California and Oregon. Read More >
NWR broadcasts National Weather Service (NWS) warnings, watches, forecasts and other non-weather related hazard information 24 hours a day. During an emergency, NWS forecasters interrupt routine broadcasts and send a special tone activating local weather radios. Weather radios equipped with a special alarm tone feature sound an alert to give you immediate information about a life-threatening situation.
NWR broadcasts warnings and post-event information for all types of hazards: weather (e.g., tornadoes, floods), natural (e.g., earthquakes, forest fires and volcanic activity), technological (e.g., chemical releases, oil spills, nuclear power plant emergencies, etc.), and national emergencies (e.g., terrorist attacks). Working with other Federal agencies and the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Emergency Alert System (EAS), NWR is an all-hazards radio network, making it the most comprehensive weather and emergency information available to the public.
Life-threatening weather emergency messages are alerted on NWR. Many of those same weather-related emergency messages are also broadcast via the EAS.
For non-weather emergencies, NWS activates the system at the request of local and/or state officials. NWS does not initiate the contact or the message. Local or state officials provide text information about the non-weather hazard directly to the local NWS offices. NWS offices set up agreements to speed the process, since minutes make a difference. In most areas, the local or state Office of Emergency Management or Preparedness, civil defense, police or mayor/commissioner sets up linkages to send messages on systems such as the EAS and NWR. Other references to broadcasting "all-hazards" emergency messages on NOAA Weather Radio:
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