An upgrade in technology this week will produce more accurate forecasts generating from the National Weather Service office in Duluth.
As part of a nation-wide upgrade, Rose Sengenberger, NWS meteorologist, said the new type of radar, called dual polarization, will better help detect heavy rain and tell the difference in types of precipitation.
According to the NWS website, the new “dual-pol” capabilities will greatly enhance the weather radar data by providing the ability to collect information on the vertical axis, in addition to horizontal axis. The new data will be in addition to the current radar products which will not be affected by the software upgrade.
“The idea is that before we could only read the horizontal pull on precipitation,” Sengenberger explained. “Now, with dual-pol, we will have both horizontal and vertical pulls that will help get a better idea of the shape of precipitation."
The upgrade is part of $50 million project to the U.S. radar system that will see upgrades to all the 160 National Weather Service and military radars. The results are expected to be more accurate short-term forecasts and better warnings when threatening weather develops.
“For example, meteorologists will be able to better identify potential flash flooding situations,” Sengenberger said.
The meteorologist added that with the new radar, more details of weather types will be made available. The older radar versions often read hail as heavy rainfall, she said.
“We will now be able to better identify the types of weather,” she said. “We can tell if rain drops are large or small and if the particular storm is capable of producing hail.”
Sengenberger said meteorologists are anticipating the upgrade and have been trained on the new system and are ready to deliver the upgraded information to the public.
“I’m excited about this,” she said. “It will definitely be a change for the better.”
For more information, or to view a complete forecast, visit www.crh.noaa.gov/dlh.
