Alabama weather radios to be out of service for 72 hours
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — NOAA weather radios are not working due to a planned software outage, according to the National Weather Service.
Officials are urging the public to have multiple ways to get alerted about severe weather ahead of tomorrow expected storms. The National Weather Service says nationwide systems are being upgraded and they have a July 1 deadline to do so. Here in Alabama, the National Weather Service planned this outage months ago, hoping this would be a quiet weather week but that's not the case.
A message that says the weather station is off air will be played until at least Wednesday on NOAA weather radios throughout Alabama. National Weather Service Warning System Meteorologist John De Block says even though the radios are off air, his office will continue their work during tomorrow's storms.
'We are going to be working closely with our partners, our media partners, extra communications, and the chat program we have to give them the latest information so the meteorologists can get on air and let the people know. We are going to be issuing the watches and warnings still here, they just can't go over the weather radios unfortunately,' remarked De Block.
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The outage is due to a planned hardware upgrade which De Block says will allow the National Weather Service to use the latest technology over the radio. The upgrade was planned months ago before the weather service knew about tomorrow's expected severe weather.
'Unfortunately in Alabama, tornado season runs from January 1 to December 31. We picked a time that we thought would have less of an impact, unfortunately it turns out we have some severe weather in mid-May. We put it off as long as we could but we have to get it done,' added De Block.
With weather radios being out, the Jefferson County EMA is urging everyone to have multiple ways to get weather alerts. Phones and apps are a great way to keep informed if you don't have a cell phone. EMA Deputy Director Chris Tate says there are steps you should take.
'They need to be reaching out to friends and families to help support them during this time, I guarantee someone has those cell phones with different apps available to them. The Jeff Co. alerts app will call them to their landline, it will also send emails if they have those,' remarked Tate.
The CBS 42 app is a great way to stay alerted to weather conditions. You can turn on notifications and find out when severe weather comes into your area.
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