JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Hurricane Helene knocked out power to 4.5 million Americans across the Southeast and also left the National Weather Service stranded without the ability to warn people of a severe weather alert.
The situation could have been a disaster if the National Weather Service had not had another source to turn to.
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In a post on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, “FYI: NWS Jacksonville has lost power, and so KJAX & KVAX radars and weather radios are down. NWS New Orleans has assumed backup for us. Please take shelter overnight as Helene makes landfall and heed all warnings. You can use KTLH as an alternate radar.”
Weather forecasting has improved throughout the years.
In August, NWS made major upgrades, spending over $150 million to upgrade 159 weather radars.
“We have improved our radar network by eliminating obsolete items while investing in new technology,” said Terry Clark, Radar Operations Center Director. “We are already seeing the positive results of this project in reduced life-cycle costs due to less maintenance needs. An added bonus is that we are maintaining radar availability at a high level after trending down prior to the upgrades, and the number of parts needing to be replaced has decreased by approximately 50 percent since 2018.”
On June 25, NOAA and Space X launched the GOES-19 satellite. This allows the satellite to constantly view the same area of the planet and track weather conditions and hazards as they happen. The satellite is now live.
Both Jacksonville and Valdosta have since resumed normal operations.
How important are these RADARS?
(RADAR), short for Radion Detection and Ranging, are weather towers or domes that look like golf balls. They serve as an observational tool to give meteorologists real-time weather data.
According to climatisation, Weather radar acts as a critical observational tool, detecting rain, snow, hail, damaging winds, and tornadic events while also aiding in forecasting weather patterns.
These towers emit pulses of electromagnetic waves into the atmosphere, and their reflection is observed as they interact with precipitation particles. Inside the weather dome is a constantly rotating antenna.
There are two types of weather Radars: a basic system that calculates the distance of precipitation, such as rain, snow, hail, and its intensity, and an advanced system that helps provide timely and essential data for forecasting and alerting regarding the potential of severe weather conditions.
Once the information is extracted, meteorologists can convert it into visual graphics, allowing for the mapping and analysis of precipitation patterns. These graphics show color scales, rain amounts, tornado, wind, and other data.
This information is a critical component of weather forecasting. The information provided can significantly improve accuracy and prove highly effective in detecting and tracking severe weather events and real-time insights into location, strength, and other factors.
Today, weather apps are available to everyone to use on their phones, computers, and tablets to get the most accurate information.