Do you own a weather radio?

[John Connor]

After reading this thread. I was wondering how many own one.

I have two. One in the front room plugged in and has battries in case the power goes out. It's programed with my area's SAME (Specific Area Messaging) code so that I only get alerts for my area. Since I live in tornado territory it's a must have. The other sits in the bed room.

If you live near a nuclear power planet, and if there's a melt down you will get an alert on a weather radio as well.

I like to go to https://www.wunderground.com/http://www.weatherunderground.com and look at the radar and Sat imagery so I can get an idea what to expect. I even have the App on my phone.

 

[gorcorps]

No

I have a cellular telephone that connects to the internet. The internet is able to provide a wealth of information, including videos of cats, people falling down and hurting themselves, and of course... weather warnings.

 

[John Connor]

That's alright, but don't depend on it. When the SHTF they have to move these in and if that you might not have a cell signal. An AM/FM radio with a weather radio is far better.

 

[gorcorps]

That's alright, but don't depend on it. When the SHTF they have to move these in and if that you might not have a cell signal. An AM/FM radio with a weather radio is far better.

*shrugs*

If the good Lord feels it's time to bring me into his kingdom then I will welcome it with open arms.

 

[twinrider1]

I have a weather window.

 

[pete6032]

No. But I live in a city with torando sirens.

 

[IronWing]

That's alright, but don't depend on it. When the SHTF they have to move these in and if that you might not have a cell signal. An AM/FM radio with a weather radio is far better.

When CoWs run out of diesel, the cell signal dies. You'd be amused by how many emergency responders rely on cell phones as alarm clocks. 0600 briefing, where is everybody? The CoW died in the night.

 

[zinfamous]

Hasn't failed me yet:

 

[JulesMaximus]

Yes, it came in handy a couple summers ago when San Diego had a county wide power outage. Lasted nearly 12 hours. Threw everyone into the stone ages but we could still get the football game on that radio along with information about the power outage and other news.

It was eerie once the sun set and there were no lights on anywhere.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Supposably 'tis built into my clock radio.
The questions are: Are there useful channels in the area? Is the standby 9-volt battery in its slot? Is the battery any good?

 

[Anubis]

No

I have a cellular telephone that connects to the internet. The internet is able to provide a wealth of information, including videos of cats, people falling down and hurting themselves, and of course... weather warnings.

this

 

[DrPizza]

When CoWs run out of diesel, the cell signal dies. You'd be amused by how many emergency responders rely on cell phones as alarm clocks. 0600 briefing, where is everybody? The CoW died in the night.

You'd be amazed at some of the guys working behind the scenes to prevent those CoWs from running out of diesel. Back when chunks of NYC were without power (Sandy), my son was one of those guys - he put in 18 hour days, making sure no one lost cell service. He managed to parlay that into a job that flies him all over the country, making a pretty decent amount of change, working for a new company with ties to Verizon.


I have a weather radio, but only use it when I'm out on the water. While on shore, we use that Internet thingy, but if I'm out fishing for 6 hours, I'm out fishing, not playing on my damned phone like the millennial generation. If strong cell happens to pop up in the vicinity, it's nice to get an alert and get off the lake. The speed with which a storm can appear out of nowhere and grow as it heads rapidly over a lake is something I learned the hard way. One minute, the Southwest shoreline was there, and the sky was just starting to get dark. The next minute, the shoreline completely vanished. Seconds later, the front of my boat was lifted in the air by the wind and I was spun 90 degrees toward the opposite side I was sitting on - had I been heading the opposite direction, it would have swamped me and sunk me in less than 5 seconds. Fortunately, I was close to an island - I ran my john boat onto a rocky island, pulling up the prop at the very last second, and sat out the storm as the lake went from calm to I can't make it, in less time than it would have taken me to reach shore. Very scary and harrowing experience.

 

[waggy]

Yeah.

I had one in my office and one down in the basement. All the cell phones have a app that warns us of severe weather.

I lived in the country for a long time.

 

[clamum]

Naw. I have my cell phone for weather warnings, and I get weather on my Amazon Echo.

If SHTF happens, well, I'd be more concerned about just surviving than the weather. So I think the cell phone will work fine for me.

Oh, just remembered. I do have a portable AM/FM radio in my SHTF bag. Guess that's not a "weather radio" though, hey?

 

[lxskllr]

Don't need one. I have some vhf handhelds that have weather, but I don't know where they are, or if they work. We don't get emergency severe weather around here, so my handcranked/solar am/fm and cell is sufficient when the power drops.

 

[jlee]

Don't need one. I have some vhf handhelds that have weather, but I don't know where they are, or if they work. We don't get emergency severe weather around here, so my handcranked/solar am/fm and cell is sufficient when the power drops.

I have a VHF/UHF handheld as well...but I have no idea what the weather frequencies are.

 

[IronWing]

I have a VHF/UHF handheld as well...but I have no idea what the weather frequencies are.

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/coverage/station_listing.html

 

[Away]

I have a hand crank radio in my bug out bag. I keep a list of emergency frequencies with it as well.

 

[Ruptga]

Nope and for the most part idgaf, but when I do I just go straight to NOAA's hourly forecast. The usual weather sources have all gone to shit over the last 5-10 years, but NOAA is solid. example

 

[BurnItDwn]

I dont, but a friend has a 50 foot antenna with a weather station at his house. Its like 2 miles from my house.

 

[Paladin3]

Yes, but I use my phone 99% of the time. I've owned handheld and desktop scanners for years to monitor emergency services for work. I still occasionally turn them on for fun or a bit of freelance photo work, but that's rarely my first choice for weather info unless both my Internet and cellular are down.

The last time I needed a handheld scanner it was cheaper to buy a Profung ham radio. It works almost as good as a dedicated scanner (scans a bit slow) and I thought I might get into Ham radio. Listening to Ham radio is pretty boring and I never did, but I have it in case of emergency.

 

[John Connor]

Best part of listing to some Ham radio repeaters is the weather spotters. I have my scanner programmed to the National Weather Service as well. Here in Colorado we are P25 and you can hear for miles.

 

[TwiceOver]

Yes. It is in its box up in the closet.

 

[LTC8K6]

No

I have a cellular telephone that connects to the internet. The internet is able to provide a wealth of information, including videos of cats, people falling down and hurting themselves, and of course... weather warnings.

Had a tornado here a couple years ago. Cell phone system went down immediately and was basically useless for the duration. After a while, you could send texts.

Even the towers outside the area were unreliable, I guess due to being overloaded.

Haven't really trusted the cell phone for emergency purposes since that time.

 

[Humpy]

I just go outside and check.

It's the same thing every day though, warm and sunny.