whitmec said:
Did you happen to try and get anything from the local SKYWARN? I guess I'm just confused between Wx priority, SAME and skywarn.
The SkyWarn feature is just a special scanlist with quick access that you have to program for your own local frequencies or anything you want for that matter. So just activating it as it comes from the factory (empty), it won't do much.
The WX Alerts have two modes available. One is the WX Priority which is activated by pressing the "PRI" button while monitoring the weather channel you want. From there you can go back to regular scanning and the radio will be checking the channel periodically and it will set off the alarm if it detects the 1050Hz tone the NWS sends out.
When you use and activate SAME by pressing the "STBY" button, it'll set off alarms and show a text message on the display about the warning from the digital data embedded on the alert transmission and also unmute to let you hear the spoken message. The only drawback for SAME mode is that you can't do your regular scanning or anything else while in it.
Page 78 to 85 of the manual explains most of what you need about these features. The NWS also offers lots of info related to these weather warnings:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwrrcvr.htm