Story Created:
Jan 12, 2012 at 4:35 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Jan 12, 2012 at 4:37 PM EDT
The U.S. network of weather radars are undergoing their biggest upgrade since the 90s and Georgia is one of the first to receive the technology.
The National Weather Service is getting a much needed upgrade that will change the way they observe the atmosphere.
The U.S. network of weather radars are undergoing their biggest upgrade since the 90s and Georgia is one of the first to receive the technology.
Radars serve as a forecaster’s eye to the sky scanning incoming weather systems to determine different factors like if we can expect rain or snow, how much we’ll get, and how strong the winds will be.
Currently most radars only scan the sky horizontally to get this info but now a second vertical scan is making these radars two dimensional, providing data that will help to improve forecasts.
“During severe events, this new technology will help us understand if it’s significantly large hail, any lofted debris from significant tornadoes. That is going to be all new information that forecasters can use as they warn on severe storms,” says Laura Belanger, Meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.
The new ‘Dual Pol’ technology will also paint a clearer picture during winter weather situations.
“For the public, this means we will have a better understanding where freezing rain is occurring rather than snow or something along those lines,” says Belanger.
This clearer view of our skies will help meteorologists improve their forecasts, providing the public with the best information available to keep them safe.
“It may help us be able to identify different signatures in a model that may be precursors for a severe thunderstorm event or a severe system coming through and what to expect when those storms arrive in our area,” says Belanger.
The radar outside of Atlanta in Peachtree City is one of the first in the country to gain the new technology with Robins Air Force base’s radar slated to change over at the end of February.
Most Popular