NOAA Weather Radio in parts of Central South Dakota is now off the air. The weather radio signal normally broadcast from a hill near the town of Reliance went down in December after the tower was relocated.
NOAA radio receivers are set up to come on anytime severe weather alerts are issued.
David Hintz is with the National Weather Service in Aberdeen. He says those living in the central part of the state and anyone driving on I-90 between Murdo and Chamberlain may notice spots of dead air. He says people in these areas should not rely on weather radio to work for the time being.
“To kind of help get the word to the citizens that this is off the air temporarily. It’s not your weather radio. It’s just that we aren’t broadcasting right now we hope to have it up as soon as we can,” says Hintz.
Hintz says bids for contractors to reinstall the broadcast antenna are now out.
But he says there is no set date for when weather radio it might be back up and running.