Champaign County Weather Radio Returning

The weather radio tower that serves Champaign County has been down for a few months now. The status is available from the NOAA website information here. More details and background information in a previous Cheat Sheet post here. There have been some updates and indications that it the radio service will be back up on a new tower within 4-6 weeks. From Tom's Mailbag this week:

"In response to the question you have in the mailbag - will the weather radio ever work again? The answer is YES. It will be working again and we are planning on it working again soon," he said. "Earlier this year (February) the weather radio was removed from service because of frequent equipment failures and an issue with the tower the antenna was located on. We were told by the tower owner to remove our equipment and find another tower because they had other plans for the tower and associated land.

"At that time, we alerted the public, emergency management officials, and local media that it could be off the air for up to six months while we searched for a tower that had the proper specifications.

"Four and half months later, we have identified a new tower location, and are waiting for lease agreements to be finalized by NOAA headquarters. Once a lease agreement is in place, we will install the transmitter and antenna, and begin system testing to ensure the associated signal is performing at an optimal level. We are expecting this will occur in the next four to six weeks.

That full Mailbag article here. A previous Mailbag article at the end of May had indicated that the service could be returning now that a new tower had been secured. Until then there is still a list of alternatives for weather and other emergency alerts from the Champaign County Emergency Management Agency website:

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.

Full article and other radio stations/frequencies for surrounding areas in the region available from that page here (a few posts down from the top).