WFO Blacksburg  - New NOAA Weather Radio Forecast Listening Areas.  

This only affects the 7-day Forecast product. 

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Roanoke transmitter - Radio forecast listening areas image
ROA transmitter		 Lynchburg transmitter - Radio forecast listening areas image
LYH transmitter		 Hinton transmitter - Radio forecast listening areas image
HIN transmitter		 West Jefferson transmitter - Radio forecast listening areas image
ASH tranmitter

On May 1st,  the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Virginia reconfigured its broadcast format for it's NOAA Weather Radio transmitters in Roanoke, Virginia (WXL-60), Lynchburg, Virginia (WXL-62), Hinton, West Virginia (WXM-72) and West Jefferson, North Carolina (WNG-588).  In an attempt to provide shorter broadcast cycles, the format was changed to reflect a forecast for geographic and topological influences, rather than county boundaries.

The forecast was reconfigured into the following forecast areas.

For the Roanoke transmitter:

  1. The Roanoke and Southern Shenandoah valleys, and the West Central Highlands of Virginia, which will include the counties of Roanoke, Botetourt, Rockbridge, Alleghany, and Craig, as well as the cities and towns of Salem, Roanoke, Fincastle, New Castle, Lexington, Buena Vista, and Covington.
  2. The New River Valley of Virginia. The counties included here will be Carroll, Floyd, Montgomery, Pulaski, Wythe, Bland, and Giles, as well as the cities and towns of Blacksburg, Radford, Pearisburg, Galax, Floyd, Wytheville and Pulaski.
  3. Southside Virginia and the Northern Piedmont of North Carolina. This will include the Virginia counties of Halifax, Pittsylvania, Henry, Franklin, and Patrick, and the Virginia cities and towns of Rocky Mount, Stuart, Martinsville, Danville, South Boston, and the area around Smith Mountain lake. The broadcast area will also encompass portions of the North Carolina counties of Rockingham and Caswell, including the cities of Eden, Reidsville, and Yanceyville.

For the Lynchburg transmitter

  1. The Central Piedmont of Virginia, which will include the counties of Eastern Amherst, Eastern Bedford, Campbell, and Appomattox, as well as the cities and towns of Amherst, Bedford, Lynchburg, and Appomattox.
  2. The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The counties included here will Western Amherst and Western Bedford counties, from Peaks of Otter, northeast across Pedlar Dam, to Montebello.

For the West Jefferson transmitter

  1. The Northwest Mountains of North Carolina, and the Mountain Empire of Virginia, which will include the counties Ashe, Alleghany, Watauga, and Grayson, as well as the cities and towns of Boone, Blowing Rock, Jefferson, Sparta, and Independence.
  2. The Northern Foothills of North Carolina. This area will include Wilkes County, and the city of Wilkesboro.

For the Hinton transmitter

  1. The Greenbrier Valley, which includes the lower elevations of Greenbrier, Pocahontas, and Monroe counties, and the cities of Lewisburg, White Sulphur Springs, Alderson, Marlinton, and Union.
  2. The Southeast Mountains of West Virginia. The counties included here will be Summers and Mercer, as well as the higher terrain of Monroe and Greenbrier.  This includes the cities and towns of Rupert, Hinton, Princeton, and Bluefield.

These new broadcast configurations will produce a more precise and concise forecast for our listeners incorporating elevational and local seasonal influences. We hope our listeners will appreciate and enjoy the shorter NOAA Weather Radio broadcast cycles.