WWVB Station Outages

I happen to have two clocks that use the WWVB radio signal to stay in sync. This signal comes from Fort Collins, Colorado as part of NIST and has been running more or less non-stop since 1963. Today I noticed by Le Crosse weather station in the kitchen was off by a few minutes. I checked the old Radio Shack clock my father gave me that I keep in the garage and it was ok. Very unusual. I did a quick Google and found this: WWVB Station Outages

Notice: From approximately April 7, 2024, 0h UTC, WWVB’s south antenna has been disabled as a result of damage from wind gusts in excess of 90 MPH. WWVB continues to operate at reduced overall power using its north antenna only.

Not sure exactly what it means but I moved the unit over to a window (recommended on another web page) and it quickly got back in sync. Not a big deal for me, but I often wonder about these bits of old technology that get taken for granted. I wonder what problems this sort of thing could have led to around the country.

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