ASHEBORO N.C. (ACME NEWS) — NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts across central North Carolina will be temporarily offline for three days as the National Weather Service in Raleigh upgrades its core computer systems.
The WXL42 transmitter on Sauratown Mountain, which operates on 162.400 MHz and serves a broad portion of the Triad region, was taken offline for scheduled maintenance at 9:30 a.m. Monday. It is expected to remain off the air through late Wednesday, June 18. Several other transmitters across the region have also gone silent during the upgrade, including:
- Buck Mountain (WWF60 – 162.500 MHz)
- Chapel Hill (WXL58 – 162.550 MHz)
- Ellerbe (WNG597 – 162.400 MHz)
- Garner (WNG706 – 162.450 MHz)
- Henderson (WNG586 – 162.500 MHz)
- Tarboro (WXL59 – 162.475 MHz)
The outage stems from a required update to the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), which integrates forecasting data and powers the issuance of watches, warnings, and public alerts. While AWIPS updates occur regularly, this is a full-system upgrade that requires the platform to be completely offline.
Despite the radio outages, National Weather Service officials say there will be no interruption to critical weather alerting services.
NWS Blacksburg, based in Virginia, will temporarily back up NWS Raleigh and issue any required watches or warnings for the area. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on mobile phones, along with alerts via weather apps, Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) channels, and other digital systems, will continue to function as normal.
To ensure timely delivery of flash flood warnings, all such alerts issued during the outage will be tagged as “considerable” — a designation that guarantees distribution via WEA. Tornado warnings will also be pushed through the same channels.
Residents are advised to rely on mobile alerts, local TV station scrolls, and weather apps during the outage. While traditional NOAA Weather Radio messages and Emergency Alert System (EAS) audio cut-ins will not be available, visual warning banners will still appear on both over-the-air and cable television.
“This upgrade is essential to keep our systems modern and resilient,” the NWS said. “We’ve taken steps to ensure that the public will continue to receive timely and potentially life-saving warnings.”
The NWS Raleigh office remains staffed and operational during the upgrade, continuing to answer public and partner calls, post updates on social media, and issue bulletins as needed from a backup site.
This marks the final major upgrade in a statewide effort. The other six National Weather Service offices serving North Carolina have already completed the same system overhaul.
Any changes to the maintenance schedule will be announced by the National Weather Service.
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