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Canada to close most 162 MHz WeatherRadio stations

Great, once cell phone towers go down during a crippling tornadic event, a severe thunderstorm, a blizzard, an earthquake, etc. no one will have access to Weather Radio. Way to go, Canada.
Can't wait to see death tolls rise during Canada's major weather disasters to come.
NOAA in the USA better not be next. It's a lifeline for many Americans.
 
That is a shame. I use a weather radio in the US as a monitor. When something is coming the radio goes off and let's me know. Otherwise it is silent. I would hate to lose that.
 
This is an insanely stupid decision.

I can fully appreciate the diminished value of these transmitters' ordinary forecasting audio. (Their conversions decades ago to robovoices actually made them too fatiguing to casually listen to unless you were camping in the woods or something and had literally no other options.)

But their WX radio EAS triggering functionality is vital and life-saving. Not everyone's smartphone is always charged or within tower range. Many can only feed their smartphones conventional wifi, as they work or live rural, where there's either no cellular service, or only "Fox viewing positions" signal.

And then you have the smartphone holdouts. According to this source, 1 in 20 households are still completely smartphone-free in Canada (highest individual ownership is 93% in Alberta, lowest individual ownership is 79% in Quebec).

Beyond rural homes and job sites, these high altitude, high wattage VHF transmitters reach into extremely rural areas as well. Battery, crank, and solar powered WX radios are staple go-bag items for outdoors people like hikers and wilderness campers. Not everyone lives in Southern California where it's sunny and 72 all time time. In areas where the weather can dramatically change in 24 hours, having the ability to check in with WX radio broadcasts when you're out in the elements every day is vital.
 
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Absolutely. If a severe thunderstorm or unexpected snow event were to hit Banff, the weather radio could tell tourists about the impending weather. After March 16th, all gone.
What is PM Carney thinking? I hope there are petitions from MPs and politicians to keep this service running...especially those MPs who hold office in electoral districts prone to Noreasters, tropical storms, wildfires, and tornadoes. I mean, there was an EF4 tornado in Alberta in 2023...

Unlike U.S. local affiliates, CBC affiliates are far less likely to break into regular programming for localized weather coverage, as well.
 
There is a drizzle of posting about it starting on X. I guess Canadians call it Weatheradio, so search for that keyword to find it (one word, one R).

This seems like something that needs to be brought to the attention of a major influencer with a gazillion followers. Apparently the government tried canning the service once before in 2020 and public pressure stopped them. This time they are only giving three weeks notice.
 
I monitor NOAA weather radio as one of my EAS sources. The alerts are much quicker. (One of the local stations holds EAS alerts until they are in a spot break...great for tornado warnings if they are in a 20 minute music sweep.) Plus the quality (intelligibility) is far superior to the relayed alerts.
 
yeoldeschool said:
There is a drizzle of posting about it starting on X. I guess Canadians call it Weatheradio, so search for that keyword to find it (one word, one R).

This seems like something that needs to be brought to the attention of a major influencer with a gazillion followers. Apparently the government tried canning the service once before in 2020 and public pressure stopped them. This time they are only giving three weeks notice.
Click to expand...
Canadian influencers in their 20s and 30s aren't going to be up in arms about Weatheradio being discontinued when most of them use an app or website to get their weather info.
 
radiofan2023 said:
Canadian influencers in their 20s and 30s aren't going to be up in arms about Weatheradio being discontinued when most of them use an app or website to get their weather info.
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Until power, cell towers and internet go out. Then the apps become useless.
 
The West Coast like in

San Francisco or Los Angeles is due for a Major Earthquake

If you ask someone in there 20's or 30's what you do if you have No Internet, Cell Phones or Apps, Probably can't answer
 
The listing given shows that only stations in British Columbia are being kept on. I wonder if the Premier of B.C. is funding those stations going forward, and the Premiers of all the other provinces and territories declined to do so.
 
crainbebo said:
Absolutely. If a severe thunderstorm or unexpected snow event were to hit Banff, the weather radio could tell tourists about the impending weather. After March 16th, all gone.
What is PM Carney thinking? I hope there are petitions from MPs and politicians to keep this service running...especially those MPs who hold office in electoral districts prone to Noreasters, tropical storms, wildfires, and tornadoes. I mean, there was an EF4 tornado in Alberta in 2023...

Unlike U.S. local affiliates, CBC affiliates are far less likely to break into regular programming for localized weather coverage, as well.
Click to expand...


LOL You really think tourists are listening to weather radio?

This just further proves my point, that many here cant divorce themselves of thinking like a radio nerd.

If power and cell service and internet service goes out, checking weather is the least of the issues. My dad is in CT and just got almost 2 feet of snow. It snowed, it was windy, it was cold.. what else does he need to know?

Alot of people in the smaller, mroe rmeote,colder communities probbaly didnt depend on them. Its cold, its going to be cold... and all that really mattered was how many layers you put on.
 
MarioMania said:
The West Coast like in

San Francisco or Los Angeles is due for a Major Earthquake

If you ask someone in there 20's or 30's what you do if you have No Internet, Cell Phones or Apps, Probably can't answer
Click to expand...
Spontaneous combustion. Sadly, much of Gen Alpha believes a phone (tablet, etc.) is a pacifier. 3-year-olds can't handle a restaurant without Elmo on the iPad. (Ugh parents...)
 
Seems shortsighted. I cannot believe the operations and maintenance cost savings from this move will amount to much and what will be lost is a backup network that could be used to convey all sorts of emergency information should a widespread emergency ever occur that takes down other communications networks.
 


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