Radio for Weather Reports

[mtnboy]

The only time I have a bad experience at Lake Powell is when we have a surprise weather event and our camp sustains damage. I am looking at radios that provide access to the local NOAA stations and am curious about one thing. Does anyone have any experience with radio reception on Lake Powell? I fish North of Bullfrog so I am in the canyons fishing. If I can rely upon local weather stations then I'm good to go with a radio that is set to receive those stations, but on the other hand if reception is so poor that I need to rely upon satellite reception then I need a different radio. Anyone have any experience with this issue? Thanks.

 

[Gem Morris]

I can get those radio reports on a Garmin RINO (hand held gps) or a marine radio. Are either of those options for you?

 

[muley]

I was wondering the same, I have a Uniden VHF that doesn't get the weather band in the south lake, works well elsewhere.

 

[Lake Bum]

I have the Uniden handheld MHS126 model, and it does receive weather band in south lake, although, the range on it is nowhere near comparable to a fixed mounted radio with an 8' antenna!

 

[mtnboy]

I very much appreciate those that engaged in this conversation. Thank you. I have a handheld VHF that has some programmed weather stations, but I do not receive either of the two stations that service the Lake Powell area. There is one station Navajo Mountain (162.55) that covers the Southern part of the lake and another station on Escalante Mountain that is to cover the Northern part of the lake. I was thinking of upgrading to a Kaito Voyager Radio because it says it receives all NOAA stations. I have not been one to listen to the radio when on the lake so I just wasn't aware of the coverage. Realizing that we are in some narrow canyons I could understand that we may not receive ground transmissions, hence my brothers idea to get a satellite radio and purchase the subscription

That is a nice feature on your GPS. My GPS is a card function in my fishfinder. Really like the accuracy of the GPS but it doesn't have a weather function. This last trip we went to bed on a beautiful night and by 11:00 it was blowing at 40 - 50 knots. Tents were damaged and some of our gear went missing. If we could have seen that coming we could have easily prepared for it and likely not sustained any damage at all. Just trying to get ideas on how to be prepared. Also looking at barometers to detect changes in atmospheric pressure which could also be a sign of something is coming. Anyone with other ideas, I'd love to hear them. Thanks again.

 

[Gem Morris]

Here's one other thing you can try but it depends on your cell phone service. If I can see that a storm is brewing and I'm worried about it I'll drive my boat to the nearest "phone booth" - a spot on the lake with good cell phone coverage. Then I'll go to a radar loop on the internet and download it and study it. I use accuweather. It's a 75 minute loop that you can zoom out and in on and move around to pinpoint your location. By judging the severity of any approaching storm cell (green/yellow/red) and its direction of travel over the most recent 75 minutes you can quite accurately determine if you're going to be hit by a storm or not. It isn't "failsafe" but it adds a piece to the puzzle

 

[mtnboy]

Gem:

Thanks for those comments. Something I hadn't thought about. I look at the radar signal map often, but using my phone to find that map is something I hadn't thought about. Thanks.