Wednesday, October 3, 2018

WWV/WWVH Ending Marine Storm Warning Broadcasts

WWV/WWVB transmitter site in Colorado (NIST photo)
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has announced that marine storm warning announcements from the National Weather Service - broadcast on WWV and WWVH for the past 47 years, will be terminated as of the end of October. No reason was given for the move. However, NIST has proposed shutting down WWV, WWVB and WWVH as part of its planned budget reductions for federal fiscal year 2019. It is unclear at this point whether Congress has taken final action on the NIST budget request.

We recommend that readers concerned about maintaining funding for WWV and its sister stations contact their Congressional representatives as soon as possible (see White Paper below).

The full text of the NIST announcement is below:

PROGRAM CHANGE NOTICE

The National Weather Service Marine Storm Warning announcements, broadcast on WWV and WWVH since 1971 will be discontinued after October 31, 2018. Comments or questions about this change should be directed to the National Weather Service at marine.weather@noaa.gov

[Tnx KB5HAV for the heads-up]