NOAA weather radios & GMRS radios with weather alerts

What NOAA Weather Radio is

NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) is a broadcast network run by the National Weather Service. Transmitters “broadcast on one of seven VHF frequencies from 162.400 MHz to 162.550 MHz,” and an ordinary AM/FM radio can’t pick them up (NWS). Many GMRS/FRS two-way radios include a weather band. NWS lists “GMRS/FRS 2-way radios” among the multi-band devices that can carry it.

What to look for (NWS’s list)

NWS doesn’t recommend brands. It does recommend receivers with the Public Alert™ and/or NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards logo. The Public Alert standard is CTA-2009-C, and NWS has evaluated logo-carrying devices “for user friendliness and performance capabilities” (NWS). The features NWS describes:

Programming SAME: you program your county’s 6-digit SAME code. NWS warns: “Do NOT program your radio for a louder or clearer station not designated as a SAME channel. You will not receive alerts.” You can get your code online, by calling 1-888-NWR-SAME (1-888-697-7263), or by texting “Go” to that number (NWS: Using NWR SAME). To find your transmitter, see the NWS station listing and county coverage pages.

GMRS radios in our database: weather features

All five radios we track list some NOAA weather feature on the maker’s page. None of the maker pages we checked says the alerts use SAME county filtering, so that column reads “not yet verified.” None of the five models appears on the NWS logo list. That doesn’t mean their weather receive is poor. It means NWS hasn’t listed them as logo-approved.

Practical read: for a dedicated alarm at home, the NWS criteria (tone alarm, SAME, battery backup) point to a logo-approved desktop receiver. A GMRS handheld’s weather band is a useful extra in the field, but on these five radios we couldn’t confirm SAME.

GMRS tie-in: the NWS list includes Midland GXT1000, and Midland currently sells a “GXT1000 GMRS Walkie Talkie 2-Pack” (Midland, related-products listing, checked 2026-10-21). We haven’t checked the GXT1000’s FCC grant yet, so it isn’t in our database. Other two-way radio makers also appear on the list; we haven’t verified which listed models are GMRS-certified.

The official list: radios approved for the NWR All Hazards logo

NWS: these manufacturers “have had their radios evaluated according to CTA-2009-C specifications, and have received approval from the National Weather Service to use the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards logo.” It adds that they “may produce other models which have not been approved.” The list below is transcribed from NWS. Use your browser’s find (Ctrl/⌘-F) to search for a model.

Source: NWS, "NWR Receivers", transcribed 2026-10-21. Model strings are copied as NWS publishes them, including its grouping labels.

Recalls

NWS points to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (cpsc.gov) for weather radio recalls; choose “Radios Weather” as the product type.

Nothing here is hands-on tested. No affiliate links. Sources: weather.gov pages linked above, checked 2026-10-21.