NWR SAME Codes, NWS WFO Grand Forks, ND

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards

The owner of a NWR SAME receiver needs to program their county into the radio. It will then only alert for weather and other emergencies for the county(s) they programmed. Older (non-SAME) NWR receivers without the SAME capability alert for emergencies anywhere within the coverage area of the NWR transmitter, typically several counties, even though the emergency could be well away from the listener. The SAME technology can eliminate this appearance of overwarning.

HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS

To program currently available NWR SAME receivers with the proper county(s) of choice, a user will need to know the 6-digit SAME code number(s) for that county(s). The county codes for Eastern North Dakota...northwest and west central Minnesta are shown on the map below. Additional information is available in the table at the bottom of this page.

NWS FIPS CWA

When an NWS office broadcasts an urgent audio message (warning, watch, or non-weather emergency) it also creates and broadcasts a digital SAME code (that may be heard as a very brief static burst, depending on the characteristics of the receiver). This SAME code contains the type of message, county(s) affected, and expiration time of the message.
An appropriately programmed NWR SAME receiver will then turn on for that message, with the listener hearing the 1050 Hz warning alarm tone as an attention signal, followed by the broadcast message.
At the end of the broadcast message, listeners will hear a brief digital end-of-message static burst followed by a resumption of the NWR broadcast cycle.

NOTE: SAME is also used in the Emergency Alert System (EAS). See EAS fact sheet for more information. Using SAME, broadcasters may receive NWR warning messages for rebroadcast in accordance with EAS rules.

DESCRIPTION OF COLUMNS IN STATE TABLES

1) State identification Column.  Identifies the state for the county that is listed in column two.

2) Counties Column  County for this area arranged alphabetically. If a county is covered by more than one NWR transmitter, the county will be listed on multiple rows (a row for each transmitter covering the county). If a county does not fall within NWR coverage, the county will be listed once with a remark of "--No NWR Coverage--" in the Transmitter Column (4).

3) NWR SAME Code Column  Six-digit sequence uniquely describes each county. For coding of a whole county, the first digit is zero. The second through sixth digits use the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS).; the second and third digits are the two-digit state/equivalent territory identifier; the last three digits are the county or equivalent area identifier.

4) Transmitter Location Column  Location (city/state) of the NWR transmitter that covers the county. Note that some counties are covered by a transmitter located in an adjacent state.

5) Transmitter Frequency Column  Frequency that the transmitter broadcasts on. There are seven frequencies (in MHz) used throughout the NWR network: 162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525, 162.550.

6) Transmitter Call Sign Column  Station call sign of the transmitter.

7) Transmitter Power Column  Peak power of the transmitter in watts.

8) Remarks Column  Used when a transmitter covers only part of a county.

Eastern North Dakota

ST. COUNTY               SAME #  NWR TRANSMITTER         FREQ.    CALL    WATTS REMARKS
ND  Barnes               038003  Jamestown ND            162.550  WXL81   1000  West 1/2
ND  Barnes               038003  Fargo ND                162.475  WXK42   1000
ND  Barnes               038003  Fort Ransom ND          162.525  WNG656  1000
ND  Benson               038005  Petersburg ND           162.400  WXM38   1000
ND  Benson               038005  Sheyenne ND             162.525  KWN46   1000
ND  Benson               038005  Devils Lake ND          162.425  WWG25    100
ND  Cass                 038017  Fargo ND                162.475  WXK42   1000
ND  Cass                 038017  Fort Ransom ND          162.525  WNG656  1000
ND  Cavalier             038019  Devils Lake ND          162.425  WWG25    100
ND  Cavalier             038019  Cavalier ND             162.450  KWN44    300
ND  Cavalier             038019  Petersburg ND           162.400  WXM38   1000
ND  Eddy                 038027  Sheyenne ND             162.525  KWN46   1000
ND  Eddy                 038027  Petersburg ND           162.400  WXM38   1000
ND  Grand Forks          038035  Grand Forks ND          162.475  WWF83     50
ND  Grand Forks          038035  Fargo ND                162.475  WXK42   1000
ND  Grand Forks          038035  Petersburg ND           162.400  WXM38   1000
ND  Grant                038037  Bismarck ND             162.475  WXL78   1000
ND  Griggs               038039  Petersburg ND           162.400  WXM38   1000
ND  Griggs               038039  Sheyenne ND             162.525  KWN46   1000
ND  Nelson               038063  Petersburg ND           162.400  WXM38   1000
ND  Nelson               038063  Sheyenne ND             162.525  KWN46   1000
ND  Nelson               038063  Devils Lake ND          162.425  WWG25    100
ND  Pembina              038067  Petersburg ND           162.400  WXM38   1000
ND  Penbina              038067  Cavalier ND             162.450  KWN44    300
ND  Ramsey               038071  Petersburg ND           162.400  WXM38   1000
ND  Ramsey               038071  Devils Lake ND          162.425  WWG25    100
ND  Ransom               038073  Fargo ND                162.475  WXK42   1000
ND  Ransom               038073  Fort Ransom ND          162.525  WNG656  1000
ND  Richland             038077  Fargo ND                162.475  WXK42   1000
ND  Richland             038077  Fort Ransom ND          162.525  WNG656  1000
ND  Richland             038077  Fergus Falls MN         162.500  WNG680  1000
ND  Sargent              038081  Fargo ND                162.475  WXK42   1000
ND  Sargent              038081  Fort Ransom ND          162.525  WNG656  1000
ND  Steele               038091  Fargo ND                162.475  WXK42   1000
ND  Steele               038091  Petersburg ND           162.400  WXM38   1000
ND  Towner               038095  Devils Lake ND          162.425  WWG25    100
ND  Traill               038097  Fargo ND                162.475  WXK42   1000
ND  Walsh                038099  Petersburg ND           162.400  WXM38   1000

Northwest & west central Minnesota

ST. COUNTY               SAME #  NWR TRANSMITTER         FREQ MHZ CALL    WATTS REMARKS
MN  Becker               027005  Detroit Lakes MN        162.400  WXM64    100
MN  Becker               027005  Park Rapids MN          162.475  WWG98    300
MN  Becker               027005  Fergus Falls MN         162.500  WNG680  1000
MN  Becker               027005  Waubun MN               162.450  WNG610   300
MN  Beltrami             027007  Bemidji MN              162.425  WXM99   1000
MN  Beltrami             027007  Roosevelt MN            162.450  WWF45    190
MN  Beltrami             027007  Thief River Falls MN    162.550  WXK43   1000
MN  Cass                 227021  Bemidji MN              162.425  WXM99   1000  NW 1/4
MN  Clay                 027027  Detroit Lakes MN        162.400  WXM64    100
MN  Clay                 027027  Waubun MN               162.450  WNG610   300
MN  Clay                 027027  Fargo ND                162.475  WXK42   1000
MN  Clay                 027027  Fergus Falls MN         162.500  WNG680  1000
MN  Clearwater           027029  Bemidji MN              162.425  WXM99   1000
MN  Clearwater           027029  Waubun MN               162.450  WNG610   300
MN  Clearwater           027029  Thief River Falls MN    162.550  WXK43   1000
MN  Grant                027051  Fergus Falls MN         162.500  WNG680  1000
MN  Hubbard              027057  Bemidji MN              162.425  WXM99   1000  North 1/2
MN  Hubbard              027057  Park Rapids MN          162.475  WWG98    300
MN  Kittson              027069  Thief River Falls MN    162.550  WXK43   1000
MN  Kittson              027069  Lake Bronson MN         162.525  WNG583   300
MN  Lake of the Woods    027077  Roosevelt MN            162.450  WWF45    190
MN  Mahnomen             027087  Detroit Lakes MN        162.400  WXM64    100
MN  Mahnomen             027087  Waubun MN               162.450  WNG610   300
MN  Marshall             027089  Thief River Falls MN    162.550  WXK43   1000
MN  Marshall             027089  Lake Bronson MN         162.525  WNG583   300
MN  Marshall             027089  Petersburg ND           162.400  WXM38   1000  W 1/2
MN  Norman               027107  Detroit Lakes MN        162.400  WXM64    100
MN  Norman               027107  Waubun MN               162.450  WNG610   300
MN  Norman               027107  Fargo ND                162.475  WXK42   1000
MN  Otter Tail           027111  Detroit Lakes MN        162.400  WXM64    100
MN  Otter Tail           027111  Fergus Falls MN         162.500  WNG680  1000
MN  Pennington           027113  Thief River Falls MN    162.550  WXK43   1000
MN  Polk                 027119  Thief River Falls MN    162.550  WXK43   1000
MN  Polk                 027119  Waubun MN               162.450  WNG610   300
MN  Polk                 027119  Grand Forks ND          162.475  WWF83     50  W 1/2
MN  Red Lake             027125  Thief River Falls MN    162.550  WXK43   1000
MN  Roseau               027135  Roosevelt MN            162.450  WWF45    190
MN  Roseau               027135  Lake Bronson MN         162.525  WNG583   300
MN  Roseau               027135  Thief River Falls MN    162.550  WXK43   1000
MN  Wadena               027159  Detroit Lakes MN        162.400  WXM64    100
MN  Wadena               027159  Leader MN               162.550  KXJ64   1000
MN  Wadena               027159  Park Rapids MN          162.475  WWG98    300
MN  Wadena               027159  Fergus Falls MN         162.500  WNG680  1000
MN  Wilkin               027167  Detroit Lakes MN        162.400  WXM64    100
MN  Wilkin               027167  Fargo ND                162.475  WXK42   1000
MN  Wilkin               027167  Fergus Falls MN         162.500  WNG680  1000

Additional SAME code information, for remaining counties of North Dakota and Minnesota or for other states, can be found at NOAA WEATHER RADIO County by County Coverage.

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office