Panhandle warnings available on Battle Mountain NOAA Weather Radio Station

The Chadron NOAA Weather Radio station KXI-20; which covers the northern Nebraska Panhandle counties of Sioux, Dawes, Box Butte, and Sheridan Counties; is currently off the air. The station's antenna was located on the KCOW radio tower in Chadron State Park, which collapsed Saturday, November 30 during a powerful winter storm. The combination of freezing fog, freezing drizzle, heavy snow, and 50-60 mph wind gusts likely caused significant ice accumulation and weight load on the tower, resulting in its failure. 
 
While National Weather Service electronic technicians and radio company engineers have been working to determine how to restore service, a restoration date is unknown at this time.  In the meantime, National Weather Service warnings and local emergency messages for the northern Nebraska Panhandle have been added to the Battle Mountain/Hot Springs, South Dakota NOAA Weather Radio (WXK-64) program to provide warnings for residents and the Emergency Alert System (EAS). Residents of northern Sioux and Dawes Counties can tune their NOAA Weather Radio receivers to 162.425 mHz.  The SAME codes remain unchanged: Dawes County is 031045 and Sioux County is 031165.  Some degraded audio quality may be experienced at the edge of the transmitter's range.

A map of the Battle Mountain NOAA Weather Radio coverage area is available at https://www.weather.gov/nwr/sites?site=WXK64

Photos of the radio tower that collapsed in Chadron State Park (photos by the National Weather Service)