WXK88: NOAA Weather Radio for Payette, Idaho
WXK88 is the NOAA Weather Radio transmitter at Payette (transmitter at Syme Hill / Ontario OR), broadcasting on 162.400 MHz at 100 watts. It carries the National Weather Service Boise office's broadcast and covers 6 counties, each listed below with the SAME code an alert radio needs to wake for that county and stay quiet for the rest.
| Callsign | WXK88 |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 162.400 MHz |
| Transmitter | Payette (transmitter at Syme Hill / Ontario OR), Idaho |
| Power | 100 watts |
| Forecast office | NWS Boise |
| Status | Normal (NWS data, July 2026) |
Marine radios often label 162.400 MHz as WX2, but WX channel numbers vary by brand - go by the frequency.
Counties WXK88 covers
| County | State | SAME code | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canyon | Idaho | 016027 | NW |
| Gem | Idaho | 016045 | W |
| Owyhee | Idaho | 016073 | NW |
| Payette | Idaho | 016075 | |
| Washington | Idaho | 016087 | SW |
| Malheur | Oregon | 041045 | NE |
A county marked with a note (for example partial coverage) is served for that portion only. Program the six-digit code into your radio's SAME location list - the SAME code guide walks through it, and how alert radios work explains what the radio does with it.
Hearing WXK88
Any receiver that tunes 162.400 MHz FM can listen: scanners, VHF ham radios, marine sets, or a software-defined receiver. What those do not do is wake you at 3 a.m. - for that you want a dedicated radio with SAME alerting, covered in the buyer's guide.
Every Idaho transmitter, county and SAME code: NOAA Weather Radio in Idaho. Or look any county up with the finder.
Sources:
- “NWR County Coverage Listings”. weather.gov. Archived from the original on 2026-07-19. Retrieved 2026-07-16. Every figure on this page - frequency, transmitter site, power, operational status, and county SAME codes - is from this dataset. Transmitters move, change power, and go down for maintenance; verify locally before you rely on it.