WXL57: NOAA Weather Radio for Des Moines, Iowa
WXL57 is the NOAA Weather Radio transmitter at Des Moines (transmitter at Johnston), broadcasting on 162.550 MHz at 1020 watts. It carries the National Weather Service Des Moines office's broadcast and covers 12 counties, each listed below with the SAME code an alert radio needs to wake for that county and stay quiet for the rest.
| Callsign | WXL57 |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 162.550 MHz |
| Transmitter | Des Moines (transmitter at Johnston), Iowa |
| Power | 1020 watts |
| Forecast office | NWS Des Moines |
| Status | Normal (NWS data, July 2026) |
Marine radios often label 162.550 MHz as WX1, but WX channel numbers vary by brand - go by the frequency.
Counties WXL57 covers
| County | State | SAME code | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adair | Iowa | 019001 | |
| Boone | Iowa | 019015 | |
| Clarke | Iowa | 019039 | North |
| Dallas | Iowa | 019049 | |
| Greene | Iowa | 019073 | |
| Guthrie | Iowa | 019077 | |
| Jasper | Iowa | 019099 | |
| Madison | Iowa | 019121 | |
| Marion | Iowa | 019125 | |
| Polk | Iowa | 019153 | |
| Story | Iowa | 019169 | |
| Warren | Iowa | 019181 |
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 WXL57
Any receiver that tunes 162.550 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 Iowa transmitter, county and SAME code: NOAA Weather Radio in Iowa. 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.