AM car radios seem quaint. But when the twister comes, you'll want that dial. • Kansas Reflector

AM car radios seem quaint. But when the twister comes, you'll want that dial. • Kansas Reflector

Max McCoy writes: "Having covered the wake of three major storms -- Greensburg, Joplin, and Katrina in 2005 -- I can tell you that expecting to rely on everyday things is foolish. You're thinking about how much water you have and what kind of food is available and, if you're on foot, where you might possibly charge your phone. Not that your phone will do you much good, of course, because cell coverage is likely down. There's likely to be no electric power for lights or Wi-Fi routers or internet, and what you rely on for information are battery-powered radios, especially a NOAA Weather Radio, or the AM/FM deck in your car.

"AM radio gets a bad rap these days because it's seen as outdated when compared to the modern smartphone. Some vehicle manufacturers, including BMW, Volkswagen and Tesla, have either already removed an AM radio option or plan to do so. AM radio reception is susceptible to electrical noise, which results in static, and consumer demand (except for a demographic we'll discuss later) has softened. But the AM radio in your dashboard will bring you accurate weather information when other devices can't. Your local AM station, especially if you live in a rural area, is likely to provide live severe weather coverage, and these stations often rely on trained storm spotters. This is the kind of coverage that local broadcasters do best, but we're likely to forget about such an essential public service until the next storm season rolls around. Together with a NOAA weather alert radio, live coverage on a local AM station is a reliable source of weather information when the lights go out.

"FM broadcasts are limited to the line of sight of the transmitter, which in flat country like Kansas typically means 30 or 40 miles. But the signal from an AM station can go much farther, especially at night, because it can be reflected from the atmosphere and go beyond the horizon. This is a simplified explanation, and there are many variables in radio propagation, but generally FM radio, which operates on much shorter wavelengths than AM, is blocked by any physical object in the broadcast path. It's a static-free signal, and reproduces music especially well, but the trade-off is distance. An AM signal can be intelligible even if weak and scratchy....

"It's easy to scoff at the idea that AM radio, a messenger from an antique land, is of any use in these days of smartphones and social media. But phones are only as good as their number of bars, and social media are platforms with inscrutable rules enforced by mysterious, anonymous and downright antisocial entities that won't give adequate explanations for what they do. Unlike the broadcast spectrum, the internet is not owned by the public for the general welfare, but is instead treated by the FCC as public utility, sort of like a telephone company."