Finally, some good weather news for Texas! The National Weather Service (NWS) is rolling out more powerful radar technology. The West Central Texas radar upgrades can help save lives when it comes to tornado detection and tracking. The upgrades provide the ability to scan the lowest level (0.5 degrees) up to as many as three times per volume scan. This gives the public a new and better base level scan up to every 75 to 90 seconds. It may not seem like much time, but with fast-moving tornadoes, it can make a huge difference.
Finally, some good weather news for Texas! The National Weather Service (NWS) is rolling out more powerful radar technology. The West Central Texas radar upgrades can help save lives when it comes to tornado detection and tracking. The upgrades provide the ability to scan the lowest level (0.5 degrees) up to as many as three times per volume scan. This gives the public a new and better base level scan up to every 75 to 90 seconds. It may not seem like much time, but with fast-moving tornadoes, it can make a huge difference.
Some radar systems have already been upgraded. The Dyess (KDYX) weather radar system in Abilene has the new upgrades and the system in San Angelo (KSJT) will have them by the end of this week, April 9. The Central Texas Radar (KGRK) will get its upgrade this month, though the exact date is not currently available.
Hector Guerrero of the San Angelo NWS said that the new scanning ability will be put into action based on the current weather situation as determined by weather forecasters. Additionally, they will decide how many extra low-level scans (1, 2, or 3) will be done per volume scan.
As Mr. Guerrero explained, “When there is a threat for tornadoes or wind damage it will be invoked, but since there are some trade-offs that occur, it may not be used for other types of severe weather events or for heavy rain and flooding events. The extra scans are disseminated in both Level II and Level III data feeds, so unless your vendor has a filter to remove these supplemental scans you should see them.”
In an effort to avoid confusion, the NWS won’t display the supplemental low-level scans on its primary radar page. There are concerns that the radar loops could be misleading to non-professionals, as the three extra scans would only be able to show the last 12 minutes and could also give the illusion that the storm system is moving more slowly than it is actually moving.
However, with the severe weather season kicking off earlier – and with much more ferocity – this year, every little bit helps and the new radar upgrades could provide valuable seconds that could help save lives.
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