National Weather Service Chicago, Illinois

NOAA Weather Radio

National Weather Service Chicago Forecast Office in Romeoville, Illinois, currently provides programming for 11 NOAA Weather Radio stations.

KWO39 Chicago

KWO39 regular programming serves marine interests on southern Lake Michigan and the Illinois and Indiana lake-shore. KWO39 also carries severe weather watches and warnings for Cook, DuPage, and Lake counties in Illinois, plus Lake and Porter counties in Indiana.

History

This station first began in 1954 as the first weather radio system in the Chicago area dedicated to the aviation user and continued until 1958 when the aviation broadcast went dark. Ivan Brunk, meteorologist in charge of the Chicago U.S. Weather Bureau (now National Weather Service) office at that time, suggested that the radio service be reinstated and put to Marine usage on an experimental basis. The marine weather broadcast was an immediate success, and the service became permanent two years later.

Throughout the 1960s, programming was expanded to include weather information for the general public, as well as the marine community. In the early 1970s, the forecast office moved from the University of Chicago to a location on West Pershing Rd. The 300 watt transmitter was located on the roof of the six-story building where it remained until 1975 when the transmitter was relocated to the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower).

KZZ81 Lockport

KZZ81 broadcasts weather and hazard information for Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, & Will counties in Illinois as well as Lake County in Indiana.

Hourly conditions on this station are reported for the following locations: O'Hare Airport, The Lakefront, Joliet, Aurora, Waukegan, Springfield, Bloomington, Midway Airport, Rockford, Kankakee, Peru, Pontiac, Rantoul, Wheeling, Morris, Moline, Milwaukee, Madison, Wisconsin.

KXI41 Crystal Lake

KXI41 broadcasts weather and hazard information for Boone, Cook, Kane, Lake, & McHenry counties in Illinois, plus Kenosha & Walworth counties in Wisconsin.

KXI58 Plano

KXI58 broadcasts weather and hazard information for DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, LaSalle, & Will counties in Illinois.

KZZ57 Rockford

KZZ57 broadcasts weather and hazard information for Winnebago, Boone, Ogle, DeKalb, Lee & Stephenson counties in Illinois, plus Green & Rock counties in Wisconsin.

Programming for most counties is provided from the National Weather Service Chicago Forecast Office in Romeoville, Illinois, with warnings for Stephenson County being issued by the National Weather Service office in Davenport, Iowa, and Green and Rock counties in Wisconsin being issued by the National Weather Service office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

WXK24 Odell

WXK24 broadcasts weather and hazard information for LaSalle, Grundy, Livingston, Ford, Will, Kankakee, Iroquois, Marshall, Woodford & McLean counties in Illinois.

Programming for most counties is provided from the National Weather Service Chicago Forecast Office in Romeoville, Illinois, with warnings for Marshall, Woodford, and McLean Counties being issued by the National Weather Service Central Illinois located in Lincoln, Illinois.

WNG536 DeKalb

WNG536 broadcasts weather and hazard information for DeKalb, Boone, Winnebago, Ogle, Lee & Kane counties in Illinois.

KXI86 Crescent City

KXI86 broadcasts weather and hazard information for Ford, Kankakee, Iroquois, & Vermilion Counties in Illinois, as well as Newton & Benton Counties in Indiana.

Programming for most counties is provided from the National Weather Service Chicago Forecast Office in Romeoville, Illinois, with warnings for Vermilion County being issued by the National Weather Service Central Illinois located in Lincoln, Illinois.

KZZ55 Dixon

KZZ55 broadcasts weather and hazard information for Ogle, Lee, Carroll, Whiteside & Bureau Counties in Illinois.

Programming for Ogle and Lee counties is provided from the National Weather Service Chicago Forecast Office in Romeoville, Illinois, with warnings for Carroll Whiteside & Bureau counties being issued by the National Weather Service office located in Davenport, Iowa.

KZZ58 Kankakee

KZZ58 broadcasts weather and hazard information for Kankakee, Iroquois & Will Counties in Illinois, as well as Newton & Lake Counties in Indiana.

WNG689 Hebron

WNG689 broadcasts weather and hazard information for Lake, Porter, Newton, Jasper, LaPorte, Starke & Pulaski Counties in Indiana.

Programming for most counties is provided from the National Weather Service Chicago Forecast Office in Romeoville, Illinois, with warnings for LaPorte, Starke, and Pulaski Counties being issued by the National Weather Service Northern Indiana located in Syracuse, Indiana.

First-order/climate sites

• O'Hare International Airport (Chicago)
• Chicago Rockford International Airport (Rockford)

References

References

1. "NWS Map". National Weather Service Chicago.
2. "Brief History of the National Weather Service in Chicago". National Weather Service Chicago.
3. (September 7, 2023). "NWS Forecast Office Chicago, IL". NOAA.
4. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=KWO39 KWO39] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
5. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/nwr/nwrhistory.php History of NOAA Weather Radio KWO-39 in Chicago] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
6. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=KZZ81 NOAA KZZ-81 Query] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
7. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=KXI41 KXI41] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
8. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=KXI58 KXI58] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
9. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=KZZ57 KZZ57 Rockford, 162.475 MHz] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
10. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=WXK24 WXK24 Odell, 162.450 MHz] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
11. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=WNG536 WNG536 DeKalb, 162.550 MHz] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
12. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=KXI86 KXI86 Crescent City, 162.500 MHz] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
13. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=KZZ55 KZZ55 Dixon, 162.525 MHz] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
14. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=KZZ58 KXI86 Kankakee, 162.525 MHz] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
15. [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=WNG689 WNG 689 Hebron, 162.450 MHz] NOAA.gov. Accessed August 24, 2012
16. "Local Climatology Reporting Locations". National Weather Service Romeoville, IL.