Emergency Management urges residents to prepare for severe weather amid NOAA radio outage

Douglas County Emergency Management encourages residents to stay weather aware and supplement and diversify how they receive information.

The National Weather Service office in Topeka is undergoing a system upgrade June 16-18, temporarily disabling NOAA Weather Radio transmitters. Two affected transmitters serve Douglas County: Topeka (WXK91 - 162.475 MHz) and Halls Summit (KGG98 - 162.425 MHz). The Kansas City transmitter (KID77 - 162.550 MHz) will remain operational but may not have coverage across all areas of the county. Despite the outage, the National Weather Service will continue issuing watches, warnings and advisories.

The outage comes as Douglas County may experience severe weather during the upgrade period. Residents are urged to ensure they have multiple ways to receive emergency alerts. Recommended alternatives include:

• Signing up for text and email alerts via the Northeast Kansas Regional Notification System at https://dgcoks.gov/emalerts.
• Monitoring local TV and radio broadcasts for severe weather updates.
• Using weather apps for real-time notifications.
• Following official social media accounts for alerts and updates:
  • Douglas County Emergency Management (Facebook/X: @dgcoem)
  • National Weather Service-Topeka (Facebook/X: @NWSTopeka)

Douglas County Emergency Management will continue monitoring conditions and providing alerts throughout the upgrade. If a Tornado Warning is issued, outdoor warning sirens will sound. Residents are reminded that sirens are designed for outdoor warning and may not be audible indoors; indoor alerts should come from other sources.

For more information on preparedness and emergency alerts, visit https://dgcoks.gov/emalerts.