When I go for a hike or out on a camping adventure, I am well equipped with gear for survival and depending on some factors, comfortable. Often, I do go adventuring with as little gear as possible. One of the things I never forget is something that provides weather information and alerts me when inclement weather is forecasted in the near future.
NOAA Weather Radio come in all shapes and sizes, but mostly portable. They are like old AM/FM radios that provide 7 channels (some 10 or 11 channels) for NOAA Weather Radio. They can be listed by channel number from 1-7 or by radio frequency. They can also be in a handheld transceiver like a GMRS or HAM radio.
| Channel | Frequency (in MHz) |
| 1 | 162.400 |
| 2 | 162.425 |
| 3 | 162.450 |
| 4 | 162.475 |
| 5 | 162.500 |
| 6 | 162.525 |
| 7 | 162.550 |
The channel your local weather information is on will vary depending on location. The NOAA site here https://www.weather.gov/nwr/station_listing has a list of states and once you click on a state, it goes into further detail of location with the nearest broadcasting station. Select the channel that corresponds to the frequency (see table above) and you will hear the weather forecast and current status. You can also scan through the channels to pick up the broadcast with the strongest signal.
I mentioned alerting earlier. Some radios will have the option to set alerting. It may be called WX Alert or something similar. What that does, once enabled, is keep the radio silent until there is a weather alert. You will hear an alarm, and then the broadcast. This tells me about the situation and help me decide what I need to do to prepare for it. This is extremely useful if you are out on an adventure and some inclement weather moves in that was not forecasted prior to starting your outing. This has saved me every single time.
Get a radio with WX alert and learn how to use it. Listen to the broadcast for a couple minutes and turn the radio on WX alert mode to see if you hear an alert, especially if you are expecting inclement weather. And don’t forget to take it with you on your adventures.
