products, issued by the NWS for you area, you wish to be alerted about.  Here are your choices;

MESSAGE                EVENT CODE
Flash Flood Watch                FFA
Flash Flood Warning             FFW
High Wind Warning              HWW
Hurricane Watch                    HUA     
Hurricane Warning                HUW
Civil Emergencies                 CEM
National Emergency              EAN
River Flood Warning             FLW 
River Flood Watch                 FLA
Svr Thunderstorm Warning    SVR
Svr Thunderstorm  Watch      SVA
Tornado Watch                       TOA
Tornado Warning                   TOR

(By-the-way, Tsunami is a Japanese word that means "Tidal-Wave" and is used world-wide by emergency management.)

Each of these products, when issued by the National Weather Service for your defined county are assigned a specific and unique "tone" or "code".  Here's what it sounds like... "BLAAAAA... BLAAAAA... BLAAAAA!"  And even though it may not sound like much to you, to your new receiver, it contains all kinds of interesting data!  So, if you tell your receiver to alert you of any Winter Storm Warning (WSW) issued for your county, the "code" will actually turn your new receiver on, and you will hear the NWR broadcast the text of the WSW.  After the initial broadcast of the WSW, the NWR will revert to the normal broadcast cycle, with the WSW playing once per cycle.  You can pick and choose which, if any, of these products you wish to be informed about.

So, as you can see, even though the NWR is "low-tech", it is a very efficient method of conveying important

weather information directly to you!

All this NWR information and more is available at;

http://tgsv5.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/index.html

When the new transmitters in Milo and Frenchville go on line later this spring, programming for the existing NWS transmitters in Ellsworth and Mars Hill will also undergo slight modification. County forecast and warning information for fringe areas were routinely aired on the Ellsworth and Mars Hill sites because there was no other alternative.  Now, we can be more site-specific in our programming. This means that you will not have to listen to a lengthy  broadcast that is not for your area. 

In addition to the new NWR transmitters that will vastly improve the way we can serve our customers in Northern and Downeast Maine. Also, a new voice for the radio will also be coming by mid-to late spring.  Most of the equipment required to handle the new voice is in-place at the weather office in Caribou, and is awaiting the final software load, which is due by late April.  From what we have heard from prototype units, the new voice will sound almost human.  There will be a male and female voice option. We will be testing both voices and try to find the one that serves the area best.  No one is anticipating this new voice capability more than those of us here at the NWS office.

Listen for us!