Local Weather Radar Reports

Over the years, meteorologists have striven to increase the lead time of storm warning systems, allowing residents to seek shelter from impending and dangerous storm fronts. Many lives have been lost in severe storms. To meteorologists, those losses could have been prevented had an early warning system been in place to announce severe weather reports to the public. Thus, local meteorologists teamed up with some of the best scientists in the field and came up with innovative ways to improve their local weather radar. The most significant improvements involve being able to predict the path of dangerous storms and tornadoes, increasing the warning time residents will receive.

Meteorologists and scientists have been able to successfully track severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes by using an advanced tracking system called NEXRAD (Next-Generation Radar). NEXRAD is a tracking network made up of 158 Doppler weather radars. This high-resolution computerized system takes readings on the amount of precipitation in the air, the movements in the clouds, and the wind speeds during a storm.

These readings are bounced back to a local weather computer, and a colorful image is rendered on the screen, giving meteorologists a clear picture of what kind of weather is on the horizon. This final image is what you see when the meteorologist breaks in with severe weather reports and warnings, usually with a description of how he maps weather radar.

Local radio and television stations will interrupt their broadcasts in an effort to warn as many people as possible of impending, severe weather. When viewing your television, you will likely hear several long tones followed by "The National Weather Service has issued a warning." When your television is on, you will hear either several long tones, or see your local news channel breaking in to announce the severe weather reports and warning. Paying attention to the colors shown in your area of the local weather radar map is critical. If orange and red are present, then high winds, hail, lightning, or tornado activity is present. In this case, take cover immediately.

Before a tornado struck Atlanta, Georgia in 2008, local meteorologists warned residents of severe weather. Local weather radar had picked up on destructive winds inside the storm, and the National Weather Service issued a severe tornado emergency when reports came in of large hail, increasing wind speeds, and wind rotation within the storm. One resident recalls: "I have never seen a storm so strong that the radar showed the color as being black!" Meteorologists were able to use the data to offer a predicted storm path, giving residents enough time to take cover. Paying attention to your local meteorologists, and not underestimating the accuracy of severe weather reports, is vital to your safety.

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