America’s wireless industry is releasing a new nationwide text emergency alert system, Wireless Emergency Alerts, which will warn users when weather threatens, according to an article from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The text alert service will be free and automatic , with no need to sign up or download an app, the article says. As long as their cell phones are WEA-capable, users will get wireless alerts for the most dangerous types of weather from NOAA’s National Weather Service no matter where they are, as soon as the new service is available in their area.
NOAA’s NWS will broadcast warnings for weather emergencies that are most dangerous to life and property: tornadoes, flash floods, hurricanes, extreme wind, blizzards and ice storms, tsunamis and dust storms, the article says. However, severe thunderstorm warnings will not be part of the initial rollout of broadcast messages because they are so frequent. Thunderstorm notices will continue to be broadcast by NOAA Weather Radio, media outlets and Internet-based services, the article notes.
According to the article: “If you are at home or traveling with your cell phone through an area where a weather warning has been issued, your phone will pick up alerts broadcast by nearby cell towers. Those towers will broadcast the message much like an AM/FM radio station, and cell phones within range will immediately pick up the signal — provided they are enabled to receive text alerts. When your phone receives a message, it will alert you with a unique ring tone and vibration.
The message will look like a text, but it’s not a traditional text message most people are used to. This text message will automatically pop up on your cell phone’s screen; you won’t have to open it up to read it.
And there’s more good news: Regardless of where you are, this service will send alerts appropriate to your real-time geographic location. For example, if a person with a WEA-capable phone from New Jersey happens to be in Southern California during and after an earthquake, she will receive an ‘Imminent Threat Alert’ on her device.”