national weather services

National Weather Service alerts headed to smartphones

Live in an area prone to flash floods, hurricanes, blizzards? Smartphone users will soon get a severe-weather alert from the National Weather Service, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The new nationwide emergency alert system, called the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), sends 90-character text messages to smartphones of people facing extreme weather conditions. Severe weather defined by the NOAA includes tornadoes, flash floods, hurricanes, extreme wind, blizzards and ice storms, tsunamis, and dust storms. Note that thunderstorms aren't on the list because they occur so frequently. … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1540: Astronomy is a girl's best friend (Podcast)

On today's show, we discover the universe's biggest diamond floating out there in space. Plus, the FCC is investigating why cell phone networks went down during this week's East Coast earthquake, especially with Hurricane Irene bearing down on the East Coast even as we speak. Our BOL PSA to you: text, don't call. And also, be safe. Plus, Pandora makes some money and the most awkward voicemail session ever.

Turn to these sites if the weather is bad

The weather over the past few days has been awful across the U.S. Just as I was thinking that spring had finally sprung, another six inches of snow fell and, once again, I was forced to head outside and start shoveling.

Only this time, I didn't even know the storm was coming. I hadn't visited my typical weather destinations on the Web and I hadn't checked out my mobile apps. It was, for the lack of a better term, a perfect storm. So when I woke up yesterday morning and saw just how much snow had … Read more

Never miss another disaster warning

We don't have an obsession with thunderstorms, but we fully acknowledge that this is a popular topic with more than a few readers. And Crave, of course, is here to serve.

But rather than citing another device of dubious value, today we offer one that seems to make a bit more sense to us. The "First Alert Storm Sentry" stays tuned to the National Weather Service's NOAA Weather Radio and can monitor 79 emergency broadcasts, including warnings for hurricanes, tornadoes, evacuations, civil dangers, nuclear accidents and even AMBER Alerts.

Better still, it can be programmed to … Read more