If you try to access radar images from the National Weather Service doppler radar in Wilmington, NC, online or on your mobile app, you won't see anything. Beginning today, the National Weather Service is upgrading their conventional doppler radar to dual polarization doppler radar. The radar will not be back in service any earlier than Tuesday, June 5th or as late as Friday June 8th. This is the most significant upgrade to doppler radar in more than 20 years.
All radars transmit pulses of energy. Some of that energy bounces off of particles in the atmosphere and is reflected back to the radar. Computer programs process this energy and make conclusions about what kind of particles it "saw". Conventional doppler radar we use today only transmits horizontal pulses which give us an idea of the size of precipitation elements. We have to make an educated guess as to what kind of precipitation is actually out there.
Dual polarization doppler radar transmits pulses of energy horizontally and vertically. This gives us a much clearer idea of the size, shape and variety of precipitation elements present in the air.
Dual polarization doppler radar will provide us with 4 primary benefits that include the capability to better:
1. Differentiate between rain, sleet, snow and melting snow
2. Detect when hail is present in a storm
3. Detect areas of heavy rain that lead to flooding
4. Detect debris lofted by significant tornadoes
This upgrade will not change the way you view doppler radar on TV, online or on your mobile device. It will simply give you significantly more information and clearer pictures of current weather conditions.
While the Wilmington, NC doppler radar is being upgraded, doppler radars in Columbia, SC, Charleston, SC and Raleigh, NC will cover our area.
Stay tuned to NewsChannel 15. Our First Alert Weather Team will introduce you to many of the new products over the coming weeks.
