Best Noaa Weather Radios

Introduction

If you are boating or traveling, you can definitely be in a situation in which your location has no electricity, no cellphone reception, and no Internet access. If on top of that, inclement weather is coming, you may be in trouble! For situations such as these, there are NOAA weather radios. The NOAA, or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, provides marine and weather alerts on seven different radio frequencies. They’re able to pick up the NOAA weather stations, as well as regular AM and FM. And the best NOAA weather radios have multiple means of charging up. That way, you’re never stuck without access to weather information. And many NOAA radios have various means of sending out distress signals, so you can get help.

What Types of NOAA Weather Radios Are There?

We can divide NOAA weather radios into two categories: portable, and desktop.

• Portable Radios: These can be as small as a cell phone so that you can carry them around in a knapsack, in your pocket, or attached to your belt. Most of the radios that appear in the MSN list of the Top Ten NOAA Weather Radios are portable models. (You can find other radios for emergency situations on the MSN buyer’s guides.) One of the best is the RunningSnail Emergency Radio. It has a 4000 mAh rechargeable battery and includes a flashlight and reading lamp as well.

RunningSnail Emergency Radio

• Desktop Radios: These will be larger, and able to run off wall current. Even though you might not be able to take such a radio when camping, it can still have a definite advantage in your home, by alerting you about an incoming hurricane, snowstorm, or even a tornado warning. For example, the Midland WR400 Deluxe NOAA Emergency Weather Alert Radio provides alerts, warnings, and advisories. It’s powered by either AC current or 4 “AA” batteries. It can alert you either by means of a siren alarm, a voice alert, or flashing an LED light. You can keep it in your bedroom, and you can utilize its alarm clock capability.

Midland WR400 Deluxe NOAA Emergency Weather Alert Radio

What Types of Alerts Are There?

If you get an NOAA weather radio, you probably only want to get certain notifications. There are three types of weather alerts, in different levels of severity:

• Advisory: You’re probably familiar with travel advisories that you hear. An advisory means that the weather is sufficiently bad enough that it may slow you down. But it won’t be anything severe.

• Watch: A weather watch indicates that there is a definite possibility of inclement weather

• Warning: A weather warning implies that the weather will be so severe that there is a threat of damage to property or even to human life.

What Are Some Important Features of NOAA Weather Radios?

• Power: As we mentioned at the beginning, an NOAA Weather Radio is practically a necessity in emergency situations when you’re left without electricity. It could be that you’re either traveling or camping in a location with no electricity. Or maybe you’re at home, but a snowstorm or hurricane has destroyed a power line, and your home is left without power. Some NOAA Weather radios just run on batteries. But, if the batteries in the radio die out, and you don’t have spare batteries, you’ll be stuck again. The best NOAA radios have several ways of charging up. For example, the Midland ER310 has a 2600 mAh rechargeable battery. You can recharge it either by:

  • Solar panel: This is convenient if it’s sunny outside. For example, the Midland ER310 will give you 45 minutes of radio use after charging up in the sun for just 1 hour!

  • Hand crank: If there’s not enough sunlight, you can use the hand crank to charge up the battery. For the Midland ER310, just 1 minute of using the hand crank will give you 10 minutes of radio time!

It will also run on 6 AA batteries.

Midland ER310 NOAA Radio

There are radios with even more power options, such as charging by means of a micro-USB cable, or an AC power adapter. An example is the Kaito KA500 Voyager.

Kaito KA500 Voyager 5-way Powered Emergency Weather Alert Radio

• SAME codes: You’d certainly prefer to get weather alerts that are specific to your region. For that purpose, there are radios with SAME codes. SAME stands for “Specific Area Message Encoding”. If you choose a SAME-enabled radio, you program the radio to your particular location. After that, your radio will only notify you only about weather conditions in your location, and any warnings that are relevant to you.

• Battery power: You’ll notice that the rechargeable batteries in NOAA radios have different mAh ratings. This stands for “milliampere/hours”, and gives an idea of the battery’s capacity. If you have a battery with a rating of 2000 mAh, and the device consumes 200 mA of current when operating the radio or its flashlight, that means that you’ll have 10 hours of battery life. For example, the EEEkit Emergency Solar Hand Crank Portable Radio has a 2000 mAh battery. When fully charged, you’ll have 10 hours of radio use, and 50 hours of flashlight use. The higher the battery’s mAh rating, the longer it will last and power your radio. But, it will also take longer to charge.

EEEkit Emergency Solar Hand Crank Portable Radio

• Flashlight, reading light, strobe light: Many NOAA weather radios also function as flashlights or reading lights. That can be very useful at night, or if your house or entire neighborhood has lost power. Some, such as the Midland ER10VP Weather Radio, also have an SOS strobe light, which lets you send out a bright alarm signal. Some models also allow for a siren alarm, and even an ultrasonic dog whistle, to alert rescue teams!

• Charges other devices: Many NOAA weather radios also can be used as a power bank to charge other devices, such as an iPhone, smartphone, or even a fan!

• Waterproof and shockproof: If you choose a portable NOAA radio that you’ll take camping or hiking, you’ll surely want a model that is waterproof, or at least water-resistant. Look at the IP rating: It gives a two-number code, with the first number telling you how dust-resistant the device is, and the second number tells you how water-resistant the radio is. For example, the Eton FRX5BT Emergency Bluetooth Radio has a rating of IPX4: that means that there’s no information about it being dust-resistant, but the “4” indicates that it can withstand splashes of water from any direction--but it won’t be able to last being submerged in water! It’s also shockproof to the extent that it can suffer a fall of 3 meters without getting damaged.

Eton FRX5BT Emergency Bluetooth Radio

Wrap Up

We’ve seen some of the best NOAA weather radios available on the market and learned about the most important features: several ways of charging and powering the radio, reception of all of the major weather stations, ability to program the radio to get the information you need the most, and more. You should be able to select an offering from among the 10 best NOAA weather radios that suit your needs, whether at home or on the road.