FOX44 - Burlington / Plattsburgh News, Weather & Sports01.26.12 NWS Upgrades NOAA Radio Transmitters

01.26.12 NWS Upgrades NOAA Radio Transmitters

People will be going up to the summit of this mountain to do some work Thursday:

The tallest peak in Vermont has many, many towers on top of it.  One of which, broadcasts NOAA weather radio alerts and forecasts to the public.  The National Weather Service will have improved quality with their forecasts, warnings, and discussion thanks to the installment of new equipment atop Mansfield.  Here's what the Burlington National Weather Service released Thursday,

"ON THURSDAY...JANUARY 26TH...NOAA WEATHER RADIO STATION KIG60...ATOP
OF MOUNT MANSFIELD OPERATING ON A FREQUENCY OF 162.400 MEGAHERTZ
WILL BE PERIODICALLY OFF THE AIR OR EXPERIENCING DEGRADATION IN
AUDIO QUALITY DUE TO MAINTENANCE. THE MAINTENANCE IS TO REPLACE AN
OLD NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTER WITH A NEW TRANSMITTER THAT
SHOULD IMPROVE BROADCAST QUALITY FOR THOSE THAT RELY ON NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR WEATHER FORECASTS AND LIFE-SAVING WARNINGS."

NOAA weather radios range in cost from 30-60 dollars, generally speaking.  They constantly broadcast the forecast (area by area) and any weather alerts or warnings.  I believe they're extremely helpful to anyone, no matter how weather impacts you.

They can be helpful for many reasons; going on a hike in the summer while thunderstorms can pop up quickly; winter storms coming in with constantly-changing information and forecasts; or just planning your day accurately to make sure mother nature doesn't catch you off guard.

In this area, here's the listening audience:

Speckled brown areas have poor coverage, or cannot receive the signal.  I consider this to be a very good coverage area based on how mountainous Vermont is.  That's probably why the transmitter is on top of Mansfield!  Updates to this transmitter should only last a day, so weather radio may be unavailable at times January 26, 2012.  However it isn't' expected to last long, with weather updates transmitting by Friday.  Stay safe!

-Meteorologist Steve Glazier                  Comment Agreement