WXK96: NOAA Weather Radio for Gem, Kansas
WXK96 is the NOAA Weather Radio transmitter at Gem (transmitter at Colby), broadcasting on 162.400 MHz at 700 watts. It carries the National Weather Service Goodland office's broadcast and covers 9 counties, each listed below with the SAME code an alert radio needs to wake for that county and stay quiet for the rest.
| Callsign | WXK96 |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 162.400 MHz |
| Transmitter | Gem (transmitter at Colby), Kansas |
| Power | 700 watts |
| Forecast office | NWS Goodland |
| 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 WXK96 covers
| County | State | SAME code |
|---|---|---|
| Cheyenne | Kansas | 020023 |
| Decatur | Kansas | 020039 |
| Gove | Kansas | 020063 |
| Logan | Kansas | 020109 |
| Rawlins | Kansas | 020153 |
| Sheridan | Kansas | 020179 |
| Sherman | Kansas | 020181 |
| Thomas | Kansas | 020193 |
| Wallace | Kansas | 020199 |
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 WXK96
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 Kansas transmitter, county and SAME code: NOAA Weather Radio in Kansas. 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.