next week to residents and anyone within 30 miles of the Island.

And one need not be a boater or on a boat to have access to the service which will provide timely weather warnings, Telecommunications Minister the Hon.

Michael Winfield said yesterday.

He said with the help of the US Naval Oceanography Command Facility in Bermuda, Government is using spare space on its emergency FM channel to transmit weather information coming from USNAS.

"This is an added service with a minimal cost to taxpayers,'' he said.

Describing the service as "the biggest advance in severe weather forecasting'', Lt. Cmdr. James Bancroft of NOCF explained that everyone who does not own a boat will need a radio receiver to have access to the service.

"On a boat, if you own a marine radio, you can already receive this service,'' he said.

The service, which will be available on FM 162.4 MHz, will carry updated weather forecasts as many times a day as necessary, Lt. Cmdr. Bancroft said.

"We've been working on this with Government for quite a while,'' he said.

"Our goal in getting this up and running has been hurricane preparedness.'' "In the event of severe weather, we record an inaudible tone at the beginning of the broadcast and that sets off an alarm on the radios,'' Lt. Cmdr.

Bancroft explained, adding that once the person with a radio presses a button to shut off the alarm, a weather warning follows.

The device can also be plugged into wall electrical outlets, he said, and most come with back-up batteries.

Sen. Winfield said tests, which began last Friday, on the weather service have been "extremely successful'' so far.