As some parts of the United States enter hurricane season, which officially began on June 1st, the National Weather Service is continuing with its nationwide update of their Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System. The system is used for weather data processing and communications, two functions that are especially critical during storms and other weather-related emergencies.
The upgrades will be taking more than 1,000 radio stations of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration off the air, on a rolling basis, for 2 to 3 days in a scheduled roll-out for their 122 Weather Forecast Offices. Broadcasters and ham radio groups have expressed concern about not having access to these emergency stations during those periods.
NOAA Weather Radio, known as the “Voice of the National Weather Service,” is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest Weather Forecast office. These stations broadcast official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The NWS is using social media and other means to inform citizens in the affected areas when their stations will be out of service. They are also encouraging citizens to rely on alternate sources for weather warnings during the outage, including local TV and radio, weather apps, and NWS websites.