Are there still any radio stations that do severe weather coverage?

[Kent]

When I lived for a short time in Oklahoma City, yes it was majorly important but this was in 1985 when the big am’s were still in power. The big am there went wall to wall with coverage. I can’t even remember their calls but I do remember their coverage of such. I would guess most today get phone alerts.

I grew up mostly in Texas and Oklahoma, and, today, OKC radio stations simulcast TV audio. I don't think any of them do their own weather coverage anymore.

Tulsa has always, in my opinion, had better radio severe weather coverage than OKC, despite OKC generally having worse weather. With two clusters in Tulsa being owned by TV broadcasters, you'd think you'd hear more simulcasts of TV audio, but at least KRMG and the Cox cluster originate some of their own weather coverage. They do have some cut ins and interaction with KOKI Fox 23, but the airstaff covers the weather as Fox 23 goes to visual focus. I'm not sure how Griffin handles severe weather coverage on its radio stations, though KHTT, at one time, did an excellent job at such coverage. KHTT is, or at least was, the LP-2 in Tulsa and always took that responsibility pretty seriously during the Renda era.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

In Sacramento area KFBK the iheart news/talk station and NPR News/talk affiliate KXJZ airs severe wildfire coverage for the Valley.

I remember at one point KGO-AM in San Francisco was a go to station for severe wildfire, and storm coverage but that may not be true anymore due to the changes that outlet went through over the years.

In San Francisco for storm, quake and wildfire coverage it's KCBS Radio and KQED Radio.

 

[seatownmedia]

KGO is a shadow of what it used to be IMO. This once great local talker is dying like the rest of am’s, though I give them credit for still kinda keeping it going.

 

[TheBigA]

This once great local talker is dying like the rest of am’s,

The audience for what they once did is in very short supply.

 

[ksradiogeek]

The Midwest does plenty of it. I’ve announced some of it on the stations I’ve been on.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

In Boston WBUR and WGBH are the NPR News/Talk affiliates that are designed for severe weather coverage. However at one point WBZ-AM was involved with that until WBZ-AM had to be sold to iheart due to station limits that Entercom now known as Audacy had to deal with when it came to the CBS Radio Deal in 2017 over which stations had to be divested to meet FCC and SEC regulations at the time.

 

[Kelly A]

The audience for what they once did is in very short supply.

'When you see a funeral procession (prior to COVID), there goes another AM listener'

 

[TriangleTriadMediaNews]

WRAL-FM in Raleigh will typically simulcast WRAL-TV audio during severe weather. That was always helpful during power outages and hurricanes.

 

[PaulKTF]

AM 620 WTMJ in Milwaukee, WI has excellent Severe Weather coverage throughout the year.

 

[iacd]

Kyw-am will simulcast wcau-tv during severe weather such as tornado warnings

 

[seatownmedia]

I miss severe weather coverage. I kind of like the excitement of it. I currently live in an area that has little or no severe weather. Boring! But I guess be careful for what you wish for!

 

[Kelly A]

I miss severe weather coverage. I kind of like the excitement of it. I currently live in an area that has little or no severe weather. Boring! But I guess be careful for what you wish for!

National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com

The Weather Channel and weather.com provide a national and local weather forecast for cities, as well as weather radar, report and hurricane coverage

weather.com

They love to hype and name any weather system.

 

[gr8oldies]

National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com

The Weather Channel and weather.com provide a national and local weather forecast for cities, as well as weather radar, report and hurricane coverage

weather.com

They love to hype and name any weather system.

Light shower Larry

 

[crainbebo]

They run 18 hours of reality crap and 6 hours of weather. It's a channel that has gone into the toilet since NBC purchased it (and then Byron Allen later on). I just look at AccuWeather.com for my forecasts and radar.

 

[TheBigA]

They run 18 hours of reality crap and 6 hours of weather. It's a channel that has gone into the toilet since NBC purchased it (and then Byron Allen later on). I just look at AccuWeather.com for my forecasts and radar.

In their defense, it's a channel that people only watch when there's a disaster. The rest of the time, they're talking to no one.

 

[gr8oldies]

In their defense, it's a channel that people only watch when there's a disaster. The rest of the time, they're talking to no one.

Partly cloudy coast to coast is pretty boring

 

[ZantennaG1]

The Weather channel was at it's pinnacle when it debuted the "Intelli-star" which would interrupt the national feed for local updates, and back then, there was more time devoted to the forecast, and the one reality show they had (Storm Stories) was actually pretty good. You notice how they moved from having the Intellistar forecast every 10 minutes to once every 30? I'll just use my weather channel app.

Also, none of my local radio stations cover severe weather that well, but I suspect KGAB the news and talk station probably would.

 

[TheBigA]

You notice how they moved from having the Intellistar forecast every 10 minutes to once every 30? I'll just use my weather channel app.

I think they go back to every ten minutes during disasters. At least that's what I recall from the last hurricane.

 

[ZantennaG1]

I think they go back to every ten minutes during disasters. At least that's what I recall from the last hurricane.

Well, that's nice, we could use the more frequent updates. Aren't we already on our 21st named storm this year, by the way?

 

[Kent]

In their defense, it's a channel that people only watch when there's a disaster. The rest of the time, they're talking to no one.

Except in the Wichita TV market, apparently. I was once told the Weather Channel had a larger than expected number of viewers who watched at least four hours a day. More than 3/4 of them were in the Wichita TV market. Granted, that's the second largest TV market geographically, but I always thought that was interesting.

When I was a teenager, my mother would record the local weather segment that aired right before we got up every school morning. She'd just hit the rewind button on the VCR, play the tape, and we'd have instant local weather to figure out what we needed to wear to school that day. She had getting my sister and me ready for school down to a science. Even with "Local on the 8's," she wanted us dressed and at the table for breakfast before that next segment came on!