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About FIPS Codes
For the purpose of broadcasting weather information, the NWS has divided the
United States into regions by state and county (or parish, where applicable)
then assigned a 6-digit FIPS code to identify each county or parish. For
example, the code for Tarrant County, Texas, is 048439.
The first digit in a FIPS code identifies
the county subdivision, the next two
digits identify the state, and the last
three digits identify the county or
parish.
Your radio can receive all S.A.M.E. alert signals broadcasted within about a
50-mile radius of where you installed it. To receive S.A.M.E. alerts and
broadcasts about weather occurring only in particular counties within that
area, you can program up to 20 FIPS codes into the radio’s memory. For
example, this lets you avoid hearing an alert that applies to an area within a
50-mile radius but not necessarily to your county or parish.
Most FIPS codes begin with 0, which means that FIPS code
represents an entire county. The NWS, however, eventually
plans to subdivide some large counties. When that happens,
each subdivision will be assigned a digit from 1-9, resulting
in codes such as 148439, 248439, and so on.
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