KEC63 NOAA Weather Radio

A VHF FM weather radio station operating as part of the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards network, an automated 24-hour system of stations throughout the United States that broadcast weather information directly from nearby National Weather Service offices. The network transmits on dedicated frequencies in the 162 MHz band. Routine programming on NOAA Weather Radio stations cycles through local and regional weather forecasts, atmospheric synopses, climate summaries, and zone, lake, and coastal waters forecasts. During hazardous weather events, programming is shortened to prioritize hazardous weather outlooks, short-term forecasts, special weather statements, and tropical weather summaries. The network also broadcasts non-weather emergency information sourced through the Federal Communications Commission's Emergency Alert System, including national security statements, natural disaster information, Amber alerts, civil emergency notices, evacuation orders, and fire warnings. The network employs automated broadcast technology that allows consistent and regular updating of weather segments across all transmitters, enabling systematic recycling of forecast information within each broadcast cycle. Weather radios capable of receiving these broadcasts are widely available in retail and electronics stores across the United States and Canada, with particularly broad distribution in the southern and midwestern United States, regions frequently affected by severe weather including tornadoes. NOAA Weather Radio traces its origins to 1960, when the U.S. Weather Bureau began experimental VHF radio broadcasts of marine weather information in Chicago and New York. The service expanded to serve the general public in coastal regions through the 1960s and early 1970s, eventually growing into the national all-hazards network it operates as today.