National Weather Service Lincoln IL
1137 AM February 21, 2020
THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTER IN CHAMPAIGN ILLINOIS WILL
BE OUT OF SERVICE FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME
The NOAA Weather Radio station, WXJ-76 in Champaign, Illinois broadcasting on a frequency of 162.550 MHz that serves east- central Illinois, will be out of service for an extended period of time, effective immediately.
This outage is due to a damaged coaxial cable, which connects the radio transmitter to the antenna. To prevent future damage to cabling, which could result in additional future long-term outages, a new tower location must be secured. The station will remain offline as the National Weather Service (NWS) works to relocate the radio transmitter to a new tower.
We have started the process of identifying possible new tower locations for the transmitter.
Once a new tower site is identified and a lease agreement is in place, we will install the transmitter and antenna, and begin system testing to ensure the signal is performing at an optimal level. While the entire process county take up to six months, we are working to get the NOAA Weather Radio broadcast online as soon as possible.
For access to NOAA Weather Radio during the outage, tune-in to one of our nearby NOAA Weather Radio stations:
* Champaign County, unfortunately, is not covered by
another weather radio. This is especially true for the
cities of Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy. However, the
following areas of the county might be able to hear
certain weather radios. Northwest...KZZ-65 in
Bloomington, IL (162.525 MHz or channel 6 on your weather
radio). Northeast...KXI-86 in Crescent City, IL (162.500
MHz or channel 5). Southeast...KXI-47 in Paris, IL
(162.525 MHz or channel 6). Due to limited coverage,
these weather radios will not be tone alerted for
Champaign County.
* Coles, Douglas and Edgar counties can receive severe
weather warnings on station KXI-47 in Paris, IL (162.525
MHz or channel 6 on your weather radio)
* DeWitt County is covered by KZZ-65 in Bloomington, IL
(162.525 MHz or channel 6). Residents of southwest DeWitt
County are also covered by WXJ-75 in Springfield, IL
(162.400 MHz or channel 1)
* Ford County is covered by WXK-24 in Odell, IL (162.450
MHz or channel 3) for all but southeast Ford County.
There is also coverage from KXI-86 in Crescent City, IL
(162.500 MHz or channel 5) for all but southwest Ford
County.
* Northeast Macon County is covered by KZZ-65 in
Bloomington, IL (162.525 MHz or channel 6).
* Moultrie County is covered by station KXI-46 near
Shelbyville, IL (162.500 MHz or channel 5)
* Piatt County (Northern half roughly) is covered by KZZ-65
in Bloomington, IL (162.525 MHz or channel 6).
* Northern Vermilion County is covered by KXI-86 in
Crescent City (162.500 MHz or channel 5). The rest of
Vermilion County is covered by KZZ-27 in Newport, IN
(162.425 MHz or channel 2)
As always, we HIGHLY recommend that people have multiple ways to receive
weather warnings and information. Forecasts, watches and warnings for
Central Illinois can also be found on:
* NWS Lincoln webpage: www.weather.gov/Lincoln
* Mobile device: mobile.weather.gov
* Facebook: www.facebook.com/NWSLincoln
* Twitter: twitter.com/NWSLincolnIL
* AlertSense: A service provided by Champaign County can
relay emergency alerts and weather warnings via text
message to cell phones and email to any email address.
These alerts are provided free of charge, however
standard text messaging rates and other charges may
apply. To sign-up, go to: https://public.alertsense.com/SignUp/?regionid=1157
* Smart Phones: Most smart phone users receive Tornado
Warnings and Flash Flood Warnings from the National
Weather Service through the Wireless Emergency Alerts
technology provided by nearly all cell phone providers.
This feature is enabled on most cellular devices, with no
setup or software to download. The emergency messages
are broadcast through cell towers at no cost to the
consumer.
We will provide updates on the status of the Central Illinois NOAA Weather Radio Transmitter through Public Information Statements as more Information becomes available.