KEC65: NOAA Weather Radio for Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
KEC65 is the NOAA Weather Radio transmitter at Minneapolis/St. Paul (transmitter at Minneapolis), broadcasting on 162.550 MHz at 1020 watts. It carries the National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen office's broadcast and covers 20 counties, each listed below with the SAME code an alert radio needs to wake for that county and stay quiet for the rest.
| Callsign | KEC65 |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 162.550 MHz |
| Transmitter | Minneapolis/St. Paul (transmitter at Minneapolis), Minnesota |
| Power | 1020 watts |
| Forecast office | NWS Twin Cities/Chanhassen |
| 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 KEC65 covers
| County | State | SAME code | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anoka | Minnesota | 027003 | |
| Carver | Minnesota | 027019 | |
| Chisago | Minnesota | 027025 | S |
| Dakota | Minnesota | 027037 | |
| Goodhue | Minnesota | 027049 | ALL |
| Hennepin | Minnesota | 027053 | |
| Hennepin | Minnesota | 127053 | ALL |
| Hennepin | Minnesota | 327053 | ALL |
| Hennepin | Minnesota | 427053 | ALL |
| Hennepin | Minnesota | 527053 | ALL |
| Hennepin | Minnesota | 627053 | ALL |
| Hennepin | Minnesota | 827053 | ALL |
| Ramsey | Minnesota | 027123 | |
| Rice | Minnesota | 027131 | |
| Scott | Minnesota | 027139 | |
| Washington | Minnesota | 027163 | |
| Wright | Minnesota | 027171 | |
| Pierce | Wisconsin | 055093 | |
| Polk | Wisconsin | 055095 | SW |
| St. Croix | Wisconsin | 055109 |
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 KEC65
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 Minnesota transmitter, county and SAME code: NOAA Weather Radio in Minnesota. 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.