![]() This image is from a WSR-57, one of the earliest forms of weather radar. Early Days of Doppler Radar A radar image of the May 24, 1973, Union City tornado. These teams documented the lifecycle of tornadoes, including extensive timelapse videos, that when paired with the radar data captured by NSSL’s experimental Doppler radar, proved to be pivotal to our understanding of tornadoes. Researchers from the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory deployed as Tornado Intercept Teams to document the development of tornadic thunderstorms. That signature has gone on the be used operationally and helps get that lead time in tornado situations.” “That’s what we came to call the tornadic vortex signature or TVS. “The Doppler radar data revealed a rotation signature that appeared aloft in the storm 15, 20, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down,” said Burgess. The discoveries made that day laid the groundwork for decades of improvements to tornado warning lead time and the ability for forecasters to give the public more time to take life-saving action. The revelations from NSSL’s Union City research were the beginning of a new era of tornado forecasting and warning. Having that lifecycle data and not just snapshots was very revealing about what was going on with the storm.” “As storms developed less than 100 miles away, the Storm Intercept Teams were located in the vicinity of the developing tornado, we were able to get the entire life cycle of a tornado documented for the first time ever. “We had the facility here at NSSL ready,” said Burgess. With Union City a short drive away, the researchers at NSSL were in prime position to observe the tornado. Bright reflectivity returns that are stationary and appear during both calm and inclement weather are usually land-based obstructions such as mountains, trees, or especially wind farms (nothing gets electromagnetic signals confused like spinning metal blades!).Don Burgess, a retired NSSL researcher, remembers the lab’s efforts to use the then newly built, experimental Norman Doppler Radar to collect the data. ![]() This is helpful for picking out snow/mix/rain transition zones In all snow situations, dBZ values of 40 indicate 3-4”/hr snowfall rates and whiteout conditions. Anything larger than this is usually due to “bright banding” where the radar is seeing the part of the atmosphere where snowflakes are clumping together and melting into raindrops. In cold climates during the winter months, actual dBZ values rarely exceed 40.This is your standard radar data that shows precip or other solid/liquid particles in the atmosphere. The first type of data currently available is reflectivity. We currently have two types of radar data available with plans to add more soon. Use radar data with caution especially if your area of interest is far from the nearest radar location! A lot can happen between 0 and 5,000 feet and therefore the depiction of precipitation given by radar may differ some from what’s actually happening on the ground. Because of this phenomenon, the radar beam will only see precipitation falling through the mid levels of the atmosphere. To see this in action, imagine a circle (earth) with a straight line emanating from some point on the circle if you continue this line out into space, it will gradually get farther and farther from the circle. Because the earth is round and the radar beam is flat, the farther away from the radar tower the beam (energy) travels, the farther removed from the ground becomes. There is a notable constraint to radar data though. This is the highest resolution radar data available which enables you to see features such as sea breeze or outflow boundaries that standard resolution radar entirely misses. This data is gathered from over a hundred radar towers located across the US. Lake Murray, Ardmore OK (WeatherOK, USA).Lightning CG worldwide (since 2004) Plus.Base reflectivity (with archive since 1991).Radar & Lightning Radar & Lightning Radar.Forecast Ensemble Heatmaps (Up to 7 models, multiple runs, graph up to 46 days) Plus.Forecast Ensemble (Up to 7 models, multiple runs, graph up to 46 days).Forecast XL (Graph and table up to 10 days - choose your model).14 day forecast (ECMWF-IFS/EPS, graphs with ranges).Meteograms (Graph 3-5 days - choose your model).Weather overview (Next hours and days, 14 day forecast).Europa Finnish HD HARMONIE (3 days) new.Tropical cyclone tracks (ECMWF/Ensemble).
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