Having worked in Alaska bush radio, specifically at KNOM 780 in Nome, although
admittedly a long time ago in 1974-75, I'd like to comment on the issue of
Alaska radio stations & weather reporting.
Weather in Alaska, especially of course in the long winter, is a life & death
issue, & the radio stations play a vital role in reporting any potentially
harmful weather. Those that live in tornado or hurricane prone areas I'm sure
can relate to this.
When I was at KNOM, we would receive & broadcast a marine weather forecast from
the National Weather Service that was updated every 12 hours. I'm pretty sure
they still do this. I'm certain they still provide weather forecasts for the
broadcasting coverage area every hour unless they're in special programming.
They certainly were when I last visited there in 1992.
KDLG conceivably could stream a weather message such as: "Gale warning for Cape
Newhenham to Dall Point for tonight," which could potentially be life saving
information for boats & ships in that region.
In November 1974, the Nome area was hit with a severe wind storm which damaged
much of the town. As this storm was building, the National Weather Service fed
us a special alert that we (& KICY) broadcast warning people to get away from
the shore & to higher ground. Probably due to that alert no one was killed or,
I believe, even seriously injured by this storm, even though there was
considerable property damage.
I still have the headline & article from the Spokane, WA, newspaper that my
mother sent me about this storm. I also have a recording of the Mutual News
hourly newscast that mentioned the storm. KNOM was a Mutual affiliate in 1974.
On a related note, I can confirm that both KNOM & KICY 850 have transmitter
sites separated from their studios & connected via STLs.
Their transmitter sites are 3 miles east of Nome & not far from the Bering Sea.
During the 1974 storm the road to the transmitter was flooded & our engineer
was unable to get to the transmitter to check on it & the power generator. The
city power was knocked out but, luckily, the transmitter & generator kept
working properly.
Stan Weisbeck
Spokane, WA
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