National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

APPENDIX E - PRIMARY EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM BROADCAST STATIONS


 

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is used to alert the local community about emergency information and warnings through local broadcast and cable media. Certain messages can be generated by local, state and federal offices and transmitted on radio, television and cable networks to alert the community about such hazards as power outages, tornadoes, flash floods, severe thunderstorms, blizzards, dam failures, nuclear accidents, toxic leaks or any occurrence which poses a danger to life or property.

The EAS system can be activated by several methods. The National Weather Service can activate the system via our NOAA Weather Radio. Usually we activate the system when life threatening weather or potential damage to property may occur. The main weather elements we activate the system for are tornadoes, flash floods, severe thunderstorms, and rapidly developing blizzards. We can, at the request of specified officials activate the system for items like dam failures or messages from county emergency management directors who need to alert their community to hazards like toxic leaks.

When the system is activated, certain tones are heard on radio and television stations which interrupt the audio portion of the programming. Each television station may choose whether to use a crawler or have an audio portion discuss what the alert is for. Radio stations use only audio messages. Once the message is relayed, the television and radio stations return to normal programming.

All television stations have upgraded to the Emergency Alert System. Nearly every radio station has also upgraded. Certain stations across Idaho have been selected as primary input points for emergency messages. These stations are listed on the next page. If you can not use NOAA Weather Radio to receive emergency information, it is suggested you monitor one of the primary stations or contact radio or television stations in your community to ensure they have the Emergency Alert System for monitoring.


Primary Emergency Alert System Broadcast Stations

 

Central Idaho

KORT-AM (1230 kHz) Grangeville
KOZE-AM (950 kHz) Lewiston
KRPL-AM (1400 kHz) Moscow
KLER-AM (1300 kHz) Orofino
KSRA-AM (960 kHz) Salmon

Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington (Inland Northwest)

KXLY-AM (920 kHz) Spokane
KXLY-FM (99.9 MHz) Spokane
KXLY-TV (Channel 4) Spokane
KHQ-TV (Channel 6) (SAP) Spokane

South Central Idaho

KIXK-FM (104.7 MHz) Twin Falls
KTFT-AM (1270 kHz) Twin Falls
KZDK-FM (99.9 MHz) Rupert
KBAR-AM (1230 kHz)

Rupert