KEC55
 | |
| Broadcast area | Dallas / Fort Worth Metro / Meridian / Hillsboro |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 162.550 MHz |
| Branding | NOAA All Hazards Radio |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | Weather/Civil Emergency |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | NOAA/National Weather Service |
| Technical information | |
| Class | C |
| Power | 1,000 Watts |
| HAAT | 168 M |
Transmitter coordinates | 32°32′12″N 97°24′47″W / 32.536676°N 97.413008°W[1] |
| Links | |
| Website | www.srh.noaa.gov/fwd |
KEC55 (sometimes referred to as Fort Worth All Hazards) is a NOAA Weather Radio station that serves Dallas/Fort Worth and surrounding areas south, west and north of the immediate metroplex. It is programmed from the NWS Fort Worth office with its transmitter located in Crowley. It broadcasts weather and hazard information for the following Counties: Bosque, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Erath, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Parker, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise.
Hourly conditions on this station are reported for the following cities: DFW Airport, Fort Worth Meacham, Dallas Love Field, Arlington, Denton, Mineral Wells, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Waco, and Tyler.
The audio feed was in use on KXAS-TV's "NBC Plus" channel on 5.2[2] prior to switching to "NBC DFW Nonstop". Currently it is available on WFAA-TV's "AccuWeather channel" on 8.2 and on WFAA's main signal via the second audio program.[3]
History
KEC-55 was one of 300 NOAA Weather Radio stations added across the United States in the 1970s. Until synthesized voice broadcasts were introduced into the NOAA Weather Radio network in 1998, both this station and KEC56 in Dallas simulcasted.
On March 30, 2009; Station KEC-55's transmitter was knocked off the air by a severe thunderstorm moments after the National Weather Service issued severe weather warnings for Johnson, Tarrant, and surrounding counties. It was back on the air the next afternoon.[4]
Throughout early 2009, all NOAA Weather Radio Stations within the North Texas region (including KEC55) began airing a monthly 5 minute talk show titled "The Lightning Bolt" where listener-submitted questions related to weather are answered by meteorologists.[5]
References
- ^ "NOAA Weather Radio Transmitter Sites". Retrieved Aug 19, 2015.
- ^ KXAS-DT 5.2 Fort Worth: NBC Plus? - Radio-Info.com (accessed June 7, 2009)
- ^ WFAA live weather channel - WFAA-TV (accessed July 14, 2011) Archived October 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Storm knocks out weather radio transmitter - WFAA-TV (released March 31, 2009)[dead link]
- ^ The Lightning Bolt - NWS - Fort Worth (accessed July 5, 2009)