NOAA Weather Radio:Proven, Effective, and Still

GrowingBruce T. Jones

Midland Radio Corporation

With no TV or cell phone service, bowling alley manager Jon Fisher relied on battery backed-up NOAA Weather

Radio. His decision to send customers and employees home saved many lives.

“It kind of saved my life, so I’d like to put it on a box, on a shelf and kind of pay homage to it.”

The Oklahoman 6/16/13

“During and after the tornado, the only thingsthat still worked were

landline phones and NOAA Weather Radio.”

May 20, 2013 Moore, OK EF-5

Former NWS employee

Cell System Overloads & FailuresJoplin-Moore

Hurricane Sandy

Washington DC Earthquake

France: System-Wide Crash 7/6/12

26 million customersNo call, text, or Internet for 9 hours

1,021 Transmitters

NWR still works.

The good news:

An Evaluation of Convective Warning Utilization by the General Public

Goldsbury et al. 2011

Did you receive word of the warning when it was issued?Yes 88%No 12%

If you answered yes, how did you FIRST learn of the warning? (Choose one)

While watching TV 29%While listening to commercial radio 6%

Through NOAA weather radio 18%Through the Internet (e.g., e-mail or Web pages) 16%Through Internet-based social media (e.g., Twitter or Facebook) 6%Through an alert service through my telephone, cell phone, or pager 15%From community sirens 3%

Weather radio listenership is at an all-time high.

~20 million nationwide.

DHS, FEMA, NWS, EC, CRC, ARC recommend a weather radio for every home, school, and

business

114 million US households+27 million businesses

Highest: Tornado Alley, Dixie Alley, Florida

=141 million locations should have NWR

Alabama: 30% of households

Evansville, Huntsville, Joplin 60-75%

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

2) Program it with a goal of satisfying listeners and building audience

3) Ensure loss-free feed to transmitters

4) Promote it. Get a celebrity spokesperson.

5) Bring back the Mark Trail Award

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

It’s much more than the box. Millions of Americans rely on this.

“Our radio is the only reliable source for weather information since we live in a cell reception “hole” in rural Northwest Kansas and have satellite internet. My wife will be

very thankful because she does not like severe weather, especially when we have

no weather radio.”NWS forecaster at Goodland WFO

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

PLACE NWR HERE

Building on Current NWR Success:

2003 patent for GPS-enabled automobile NWR

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

Emerson

La Crosse

OregonScientific

RadioShack

Sanjean

SIMA

Kaito

Eton

EmersonEmerson

Jensen

Alert Works

Capello

C Crane

Reecom

ChaneyAcu-Rite

AmbientWeather

Midland

Weather X

Sony

Coby

topAlert

jWIN

Weather XWeather X

Uniden

Springfield

Weather One

Weather band radios

Weather alert radios

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

2) Program it with a goal of satisfying listeners and building audience

Goals of a Radio Station Program Director:

Make current audience listen longer. Give them more of what they want

and eliminate tune-out factors.

“SVR for Washakie County until 3:45pm. SVR for Washakie County until 4:10pm.”

Goals of a Radio Station Program Director:

Make current audience listen longer. Give them more of what they want

and eliminate tune-out factors.

Attract new listeners with promotion and advertising.

Success = Great Product + Non-Stop Promotion

NWR Outreach Omaha, NE

NWR Outreach Amarillo, TX

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

2) Program it with a goal of satisfying listeners and building audience

3) Ensure loss-free feed to transmitters

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

2) Program it with a goal of satisfying listeners and building audience

3) Ensure loss-free feed to transmitters

4) Promote it. Get a celebrity spokesperson.

QuickTime™ and aMPEG-4 Video decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

WGN-Chicago

KFDA Newschannel 10 / Telemundo Amarillo, TX

Building on Current NWR Success:

1) Keep it important, relevant, and front-line.

2) Program it with a goal of satisfying listeners and building audience

3) Ensure loss-free feed to transmitters

4) Promote it. Get a celebrity spokesperson.

5) Bring back the Mark Trail Award

The Mark Trail Awardrecognized individuals

who promoted theNOAA

Weather Radio Network.

NWR covers 98% of the US population ata cost of about 25 cents/listener/year

iPhone 5Cost: $200 (subsidized)

$100+ monthly. >$1,000 per year

NOAA Weather RadioCost: $30-50Free data feed

“An app is only a bargain if you can afford the device that runs it.”

Wall Street Journal 5/13/13

What’s Right with NOAA Weather Radio:

Instantaneous and simultaneous notification of all receivers...via radio. No congestion.

Silent monitor. “The smoke detector for storms.”

Battery back-up during power loss.

80dB alert tone saves lives...especially at night.

County and event-specific.

210 transmitters cover 93% of the Canadian population

In the next 18 months:10 more in the Arctic

3 more West Coast for tsunamis14 more for East Coast

For erratic or quickly developing storms, over-

warning saves lives & property.

April 27, 2011

The morning storms caused power outages affecting not only the public, but also several NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) transmitters. In some of these areas, power was not restored by the time the more significant afternoon/evening storms moved through the area. (NWS Service Assessment)

Everyone should have MULTIPLE & REDUNDANT

means of receiving life-saving bulletins

Apps / WeatherCall Broadcasters WEA

Outdoor Tornado SirenIndoor Tornado Siren

“I don’t feel safe without my weather radio.

I’ve been through three tornadoes.”Mrs. Opal StennittMoore, OK

The OfficialVoice of

the National Weather Serviceand

Environment Canada

Weather Radio:

Better promoted, they might be as common as smoke detectors

Meteorologist/SpokespersonMidland Radio Corporation

Bruce T. Jones