Douglas L. Davis of the National Weather Service Huntsville
Photo credit: Huntsville Magazine, Winter 1975
Tom Ward of the National Weather Service Huntsville
Photo credit: Huntsville Magazine, Winter 1975
For many years the National Weather Service in Huntsville requested a NOAA Weather Radio station from the federal government, to no avail. Huntsville was told it was a low priority. NOAA Weather Radio stations were mostly confined to coastal areas. Local governments, businesses and individuals had to raise the $30,000 needed for the station. According to the Huntsville Times, donors included: Huntsville-Madison County Airport Board of Control ($3,000), Limestone County ($2,460), Madison County ($4,392), Morgan County ($3,540), the city of Athens ($1,299), the city of Decatur ($3,429), and the city of Huntsville ($12,420). In addition, concerned citizens donated several hundreds of dollars. Onan Corporation manufactured a 5 kW emergency power generator, worth about $3,000, for the station's transmitter.
The transmitter was installed at the WYUR television studio. Signals from the broadcast console at the Huntsville Jetport were sent to the transmitter at WYUR, on Monte Sano. Huntsville NOAA Weather Radio Station KIH-20 became a reality and finally went on the air on Monday, January 12, 1976. KIH-20 was the second NOAA Weather Radio station to go on the air in Alabama. Mobile's station was the first.
Sources:
National Weather Service Huntsville
Huntsville Magazine, Winter 1975
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