Weather Alert Radios?? Midland??

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anonomoose

New member
Anyone own one of these....Look'n at a WR-100 sounds alert if weather bulletin occurs...daughter lives in tormado alley....can you believe they have no sirens down that way?

Looks to be about $38 bucks and hooks to 110v outlet.

Any other suggestions in that price range with first hand knowledge would be appreciated.
 
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polarisrider1

New member
If she has a droid, she can get afree app. That does the weather alerts quit well. My phone flashes red screen for weather warnings and gives full report. Just a thought.
 
chords

chords

Active member
I use Radio Shack radios. Mine are a few yrs old and have no SAME settings and dont really need it, but have good reception and that is key. Midland is a good brand. NWS transmitters have ~ 40 mi range and most coverage overlaps so very few dead spots in most areas.

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards ROCKS. I'd be lost w/o mine.
 
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fatdaddy

Member
I got a weather radio from our local Cub foods store a few years back when a tv station had some awareness program/offer going. They all do a pretty good job as far as reception goes. the trick is to program it for your county only, I did it for the 5 county metro area and all I ever got was alarms from area's 50-100 miles away. They work great if you program the area right. I actually don't use it anymore because where I live it has sirens and the tv stations are on top of things pretty good. I also have the internet on my phone so I can see the radar if things start looking bad.
 
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rocky367

Member
Bunch of different apps out there that will push to your phone and even use the gps/cell towers to narrow the warning down.
I have a Midland Weather Radio with Same Alerts and yeah, can get pretty annoying at times with warnings, but I'd rather know that in an hour I may need to get the kids moving to cover then get woke up the other way. Pretty simple to use, but yes make sure it has a battery backup.
One downside to the phone is if you set it to silence at night it may not pop the warning.
 
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landoman

New member
Midland WR-300 is what we have here. Not sure why we have the 300 but it does alert us in the middle of the night. We bought it because we use a fan at night that drowns out most noise including a tornado siren. I have it set so it only alerts me to Warnings - not watches.
 
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windingtrailgal

Active member
No offense to any suggestions, but as a kid who grew up in tornado alley and someone who takes that kind of stuff VERY seriously I would NOT be relying on my cell phone. Forget to charge it? Power goes out and phone not charged? Wind takes a tower out? Drop your phone in the toilet?

My mommy bought me a Sangean CC radio plus. Have no idea the cost. The other suggestions people made for radios sound good as well. I used to have one from Radio Shack but it's on the bottom of Lake Michigan...

Moose, I'm surprised she doesn't have sirens where she is!?! Crazy! I was in a tornado when I was a little kid...we NEVER relyed on sirens. Watched forecasts and had the weather radio. We all knew the chirping noise and the alarm noise for warnings the radio made when it went off and then would wait for mom to tell us if it was basement time. Tornadoes are highly unlikey where I am but I still use my weather radio and my kids know the drill.
 
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polarisrider1

New member
windingtrailgal said:
No offense to any suggestions, but as a kid who grew up in tornado alley and someone who takes that kind of stuff VERY seriously I would NOT be relying on my cell phone. Forget to charge it? Power goes out and phone not charged? Wind takes a tower out? Drop your phone in the toilet?

My mommy bought me a Sangean CC radio plus. Have no idea the cost. The other suggestions people made for radios sound good as well. I used to have one from Radio Shack but it's on the bottom of Lake Michigan...

Moose, I'm surprised she doesn't have sirens where she is!?! Crazy! I was in a tornado when I was a little kid...we NEVER relyed on sirens. Watched forecasts and had the weather radio. We all knew the chirping noise and the alarm noise for warnings the radio made when it went off and then would wait for mom to tell us if it was basement time. Tornadoes are highly unlikey where I am but I still use my weather radio and my kids know the drill.
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Phone in toilet?? wow! My "Phone" Droid 2 does just about everything and very well. The weather Channel app. is amazing. I have weather presets for all the places I travel. When there is a Tornado watch it lets you know. When there is a Tornado warning it actually goes into action before the sirens do. The screen flashes red and the dang thing chirps and viberates plenty loud enough to be heard over a radio that is blasting and to wake the dead. Then it gives the full blown weather report and a screen pops up in color as an overlay of a map of your current location showing the storm intensity by color as it aproaches, same as they show on TV, but sooner. The information comes from the National weather service and it is fast. Very happy with the app. Nice part of the app. is as you travel with your phone it constantly updates the weather for the current area you are at and you can check weather on your presets or type in a new location. Way worth checking out. Cindy, not all of us live in the Big city with sirens. In my town someone actually has to drive to the church, unlock the building, find the light switch, hang up their coat, and then commence to ring the bell. Then everyone relizes "Hey, it's not time for church, What the heck?" And a Tornado rips the town to shreds and they end up calling it "Straight line winds". Well my phone gives me a way better way to find out first why the wind has stopped, the birds are quite, It is hot and humid but getting colder fast and then the hail starts and the next thing you know the town is gone. I like my phone as a typed all this on it while sitting in my basement.
 
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windingtrailgal

Active member
Now, now PR1 - I wasn't disputing the wonders of kick butt phones and their apps...not saying it's not a good idea to get the kick butt apps. I'm just saying that even if my phone made my breakfast and did my laundry (like Rosie from the Jetsons!), I'd still want a weather radio if I lived in tornado alley. Just in case and just cause I'm old school that way! :)
 
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polarisrider1

New member
windingtrailgal said:
Now, now PR1 - I wasn't disputing the wonders of kick butt phones and their apps...not saying it's not a good idea to get the kick butt apps. I'm just saying that even if my phone made my breakfast and did my laundry (like Rosie from the Jetsons!), I'd still want a weather radio if I lived in tornado alley. Just in case and just cause I'm old school that way! :)
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If I lived in Tornado alley, I think I would move. The phone gets info 3 ways, Phone signal from a tower, Satelite transmission, and wireless internet (if present) only need 1 of them to get weather. Battery last for days, it is a lithium hybred. DC charger in all vehicles and AC charger in house. Phone can order breakfast and call the dry cleaner if I want it to, all on its own after I put in times to do such tasks. The weather radio on my boat is so depressing to listen to. It is a guy with a german accent (computer generated) with nothing promising to say, even when it is 75 degrees, calm and blue skies. I need pictures and a radio don't give me that. A radar does. lol.
 
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windingtrailgal

Active member
PR1 - Your reason for edit MAY BE the smiley face but I still don't see one! :mad:

I'm not sure why you're being so darn cantankerous...so I'll give you a scenario. I live in downstate IL (central KS, IN, NE, MO, OK, OH, pick ur tornado alley state! cuz there's lots! The UP had a tornado watch the other day too, by the way!!!) I have my phone in my pocket, I'm washing my car (please! have you seen my car? never washed except by rain!), I lean over and my phone falls in the darn bucket! CRAP! Weather guy TOLD me to be on alert for bad weather today and now my only source of bad weather info is in a sudsy bucket! (and my clothes hangin out on the line - for you country music fans!) As I grab my beer, cursing, I now think CRAP! How am I gonna get woken up tonight if there's a tornado watch or warning! Sleeping in my bed is MUCH nicer than my unfinished basement! Ahhhhh, that nice little radio I got from (fill in blank here) will do so nicely!! :)

I'll give YOU one...You're out on Lake Michigan. Beautiful day. Weather man told you to watch out for squalls. There's some really cool looking thunderheads but they're the fluffy white kind...Things could stay all lovely or they could turn ugly quick - who knows? (think Gordon Lightfoot here) It's Lake Michigan!?! Your lovely wife drops her sunglasses. You, the galant dude that you are, reaches for them and your phone flies out of your hand and into the cooler where you were trying to retrieve a frosty beverage. CRAP! NOW what? :confused:

That was all I was saying...back up is good...we can't all NOT live in tornado alley or it would be a really boring USofA (and we'd have even MORE food from communists!) and we can't all have phones smarter than I am...

Stay focused on what poor Moose was asking - he always does the same for all of us!?! :p
 
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polarisrider1

New member
windingtrailgal said:
PR1 - Your reason for edit MAY BE the smiley face but I still don't see one! :mad:

I'm not sure why you're being so darn cantankerous...so I'll give you a scenario. I live in downstate IL (central KS, IN, NE, MO, OK, OH, pick ur tornado alley state! cuz there's lots! The UP had a tornado watch the other day too, by the way!!!) I have my phone in my pocket, I'm washing my car (please! have you seen my car? never washed except by rain!), I lean over and my phone falls in the darn bucket! CRAP! Weather guy TOLD me to be on alert for bad weather today and now my only source of bad weather info is in a sudsy bucket! (and my clothes hangin out on the line - for you country music fans!) As I grab my beer, cursing, I now think CRAP! How am I gonna get woken up tonight if there's a tornado watch or warning! Sleeping in my bed is MUCH nicer than my unfinished basement! Ahhhhh, that nice little radio I got from (fill in blank here) will do so nicely!! :)

I'll give YOU one...You're out on Lake Michigan. Beautiful day. Weather man told you to watch out for squalls. There's some really cool looking thunderheads but they're the fluffy white kind...Things could stay all lovely or they could turn ugly quick - who knows? (think Gordon Lightfoot here) It's Lake Michigan!?! Your lovely wife drops her sunglasses. You, the galant dude that you are, reaches for them and your phone flies out of your hand and into the cooler where you were trying to retrieve a frosty beverage. CRAP! NOW what? :confused:

That was all I was saying...back up is good...we can't all NOT live in tornado alley or it would be a really boring USofA (and we'd have even MORE food from communists!) and we can't all have phones smarter than I am...

Stay focused on what poor Moose was asking - he always does the same for all of us!?! :p
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Okay, this is what I use for a backup on my boat. This will work at home inside or outside. One can hook it to there belt if they wish. http://www.westmarine.com/1/1/63582-hx280s-submersible-handheld-vhf.html It has 4 NOAA weather channels. I trust this unit better than one sitting in my house on a counter bought from radio shack with 1950's technology. So I just realized the guy ringing the church bell is obsolete. :)
 
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mtb1115

New member
WOW... Keep in mind that tornado's can happen in every state of the union during every month of the year although more common in some states and months. The tornado sirens are actually called "outdoor warning sirens" for when you are outside and away from other other warning devises. The phone app is great and a nice way to embrace new technology but a $30 to $50 dollar or so weather radio is cheap insurance to protect your family from late night storms when you are asleep, we all have smoke detectors and CO detectors, sure you could wait for your neighbors to call you when they see your house on fire, but seconds can count. The newer radios are nice and you can be very selective on what it will alert you to, so when your asleep, the TV is off, windows closed, AC is on and your phone is charging on the kitchen counter.... How do you want to be awoken ?
 
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mtb1115

New member
I will add that depending on where you live, check with the local EMA (emergency management agency) through your city, town, township or county. They may know which ones work best in the specific area or may have a give-away or discount program too.
 
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polarisrider1

New member
mtb1115 said:
I will add that depending on where you live, check with the local EMA (emergency management agency) through your city, town, township or county. They may know which ones work best in the specific area or may have a give-away or discount program too.
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Great idea.
 
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polarisrider1

New member
mtb1115 said:
WOW... Keep in mind that tornado's can happen in every state of the union during every month of the year although more common in some states and months. The tornado sirens are actually called "outdoor warning sirens" for when you are outside and away from other other warning devises. The phone app is great and a nice way to embrace new technology but a $30 to $50 dollar or so weather radio is cheap insurance to protect your family from late night storms when you are asleep, we all have smoke detectors and CO detectors, sure you could wait for your neighbors to call you when they see your house on fire, but seconds can count. The newer radios are nice and you can be very selective on what it will alert you to, so when your asleep, the TV is off, windows closed, AC is on and your phone is charging on the kitchen counter.... How do you want to be awoken ?
Click to expand...

I would rather die in my sleep as to wake up to flying glass then death. I don't think technology can get us the info fast enough on an actual Tornado yet. I've see improvements on advance warnings over the years, but the "so called" straight line winds we tend to get has very little to no warning . Most of town I live in gets hit with this every few years. Not a siren to be heard. What I am getting to is that those radios may offer peace of mind, but I would not rely on them as a sole source of weather warning.
As far as the phone app. I have Milwaukee and Chicago set up to report bad weather to my phone as it is heading to West Michigan, this gives me a good heads up since most of what we recieve comes from that direction. lake Michigan can stir up it's own mess of storms also, so I have Grand Haven comes on next as things get closer. Gives me an extra couple hours to prepare for a storm. Other than a tornado which gives little warning. It is an excellent tool that I feel is more faster and acurate than the weather radio. Something is better than nothing though.
 
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