Weather radio importance

[JeffersonSpyplane]

I've never heard this specific story. Interesting line about the text and data capabilities of his phone not being available. When I try to get people to get a weather radio, they almost always tell me that their phone will let them know when an emergency is happening.

Weather radio helped the save lives of Moore bowling alley employees | News OK

 

[DJ11DLN]

Great story. I'm glad they all made it out okay. And this does illustrate what the average person out there doesn't seem to understand, i.e. that the "weather app" they have on their phone just may not be working when it's needed most desperately.

I'll stick with a weather radio. The apps are fine, but to me they are more toys than tools one would rely on for life safety. They're too dependent on fragile infrastructure that can get knocked offline by storms. Good ol' NOAA All Hazards can too but it's a lot less likely to go down.

 

[Jimbnks]

Great story. I'm glad they all made it out okay. And this does illustrate what the average person out there doesn't seem to understand, i.e. that the "weather app" they have on their phone just may not be working when it's needed most desperately.

I'll stick with a weather radio. The apps are fine, but to me they are more toys than tools one would rely on for life safety. They're too dependent on fragile infrastructure that can get knocked offline by storms. Good ol' NOAA All Hazards can too but it's a lot less likely to go down.

What's ironic when they need the cell phone app, they normally had disable it because it was annoying them, then they fail to understand why it did not warn them.

 

[KD5WLX]

JimB - you got that right. Last night my phone went off 4 times for severe T-storm warnings for my location. Only 2 of them were even for my COUNTY and even when NWS warned on my county, it was for the other "end" (once for SW and once for NE, I live NW. While I don't turn it off, I know many would, or would ignore it for too many cases of crying wolf.

 

[Freqed]

I have seen people disable their phone app, but because of an Amber alert, not weather. But when they do it for that, it disables the weather too.

 

[Drkatzjr45]

JimB - you got that right. Last night my phone went off 4 times for severe T-storm warnings for my location. Only 2 of them were even for my COUNTY and even when NWS warned on my county, it was for the other "end" (once for SW and once for NE, I live NW. While I don't turn it off, I know many would, or would ignore it for too many cases of crying wolf.

The National Weather Service needs to be more -specific- when submitting submit a alert.

For example, if there is a storm in far Northern Tulsa county, only that district, and locations in its path,
should be notified, not far southern Tulsa CO, where the storm has no appreciable chance of moving.


I empathize completely (and understand) your comments, and totally agree...and...wish they would be proactive in making this change.

 

[plaws]

The National Weather Service needs to be more -specific- when submitting submit a alert.

NWS has been doing storm-based warnings for several years now as opposed to county-based warnings of the past.

SAME supports 9 subdivisions of a county.

I'm sure if you get your local county EM to work with all the local city EMs in the county to come up with a method of dividing your county into no more than 9 sectors, you could probably convince the NWS to get their software to only send the SAME codes on warnings for those sectors.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

In the meantime, be thankful we have more than just the 1050-Hz tone.

 

[KD5WLX]

Actually, my issue with the cell phone weather widgets is Rogers County (they'll send an alert to Oolagah for a cell over Inola, or Chelsea for a cell in Catoosa) and the cell phone company.

In the cell phone company's case, it's how the towers "circles" of coverage cross county lines. I think this is what happened yesterday. The cell was going SW to NE across Sperry, headed for between Skiatook and Collinsville and then up towards far NW Rogers County. At the time, the warning box stopped at the Tulsa and Washington to Rogers county line (145th E Ave - as the cell was still out at or about 52nd W Ave. But the cell TOWER that my phone was affliated with is actually just west of 161st E Ave(and thus its coverage extends well into Tulsa County and in the warning polygon) but that tower only GAVE the warning because the box crosses the western half of it's coverage circle.

The cell didn't actually get within 15 miles of my house and fizzled so the warning was never extended into Rogers County proper.

I did get one later (text message from Rogers County EMA direct via their group push message) - for a storm coming out of NW Wagoner county that just clipped Inola. That one was just the county being behind the times and sending the push for their "whole world".

 

[Drkatzjr45]

NWS has been doing storm-based warnings for several years now as opposed to county-based warnings of the past.

SAME supports 9 subdivisions of a county.

I'm sure if you get your local county EM to work with all the local city EMs in the county to come up with a method of dividing your county into no more than 9 sectors, you could probably convince the NWS to get their software to only send the SAME codes on warnings for those sectors.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

In the meantime, be thankful we have more than just the 1050-Hz tone.

Yes..That may be true. I assume it must be the configuration of the App, as I have recently received many warnings that were not "storm based"

 

[plaws]

Yes..That may be true. I assume it must be the configuration of the App, as I have recently received many warnings that were not "storm based"

The warnings *from NWS* are storm-based. The technology you use to receive those warnings (including NOAA Weather Radio) are not capable of that.

 

[plaws]

Here is an hour-old warning (at time of posting) Note the Lat/Lons at the bottom. Map it.

TOR from KFFC

 

[KC3ECJ]

A CB weather band and alert notified me about a tornado which did end up only being a couple miles from me.

 

[Drkatzjr45]

JimB - you got that right. Last night my phone went off 4 times for severe T-storm warnings for my location. Only 2 of them were even for my COUNTY and even when NWS warned on my county, it was for the other "end" (once for SW and once for NE, I live NW. While I don't turn it off, I know many would, or would ignore it for too many cases of crying wolf.

Your comments are commensurate to what I have experienced!

 

[nermel]

Another tool I encourage people around here to have: Battery or wind up powered FM radio. TV simulcasts on the radio aren't subject to cellular congestion.