 Join To Improve Weather Broadcasts May 09, 2003
The Weather Blanket project goal is to provide the Alaska maritime community with accurate, timely and comprehensive weather information by increasing the continuous local NWS broadcast footprint using low power transmitters located at selected Coast Guard VHF-FM high sites. Southeast Alaska is the first region under the Weather Blanket project to become completely configured for providing improved weather broadcasting services through the partnership with the NWS. As a result, Weather forecasts, predictions and weather warnings are now available continuously on Weather Channels 1-7, frequencies 162.40mhz through 162.55mhz. The US Coast Guard District Seventeen Juneau Radio will cease broadcasting weather on its regularly scheduled broadcasts commencing 02 June 2003. Coast Guard Juneau Radio will continue broadcasting Notice to Mariners and Urgent Marine Information at it's regularly scheduled broadcast times. By combining efforts, the Coast Guard and NWS hope to improve weather product delivery to the public at minimal cost. The completed project will see NWS weather products being continuously broadcast from as many as 23 Coast Guard high sites in addition to their 18 coastal Weather Radio locations. Sixteen Coast Guard sites have already been installed with the NWS weather radio and are functioning in the Southeast, Kodiak and Prince William Sound areas. Many of these locations will increase current coverage areas or provide weather service to areas where previous reception didn't exist. According to a news release, the joint NWS and Coast Guard project team hopes to complete the weather delivery project initiated in 2001 by December 2003. Comments and concerns on this
project are welcomed and can be sent to Commander, 17th Coast
Guard District, P.O. Box 25517, Juneau, AK, 99802-5515, telephone
(907) 463-2222, or e-mail wrussell@cgalaska.uscg.mil.
Source of News Release:
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