Weather Radar Images

It’s raining cats and dogs at my house. That prompted me to look at the radar. That prompted me to write a blog entry.

I took the time to write a formal article for AVweb about the subject a long time ago. I wrote another for this blog. There are new people reading all the time. If you’re one of them -- and you bet your life on a NEXRAD weather radar image -- go read them and I’ll spare everyone else the lectures.

Base reflectivity -- o.5 degrees elevation




Composite reflectivity -- 0.5 and 1.45 degrees elevation




Notice the difference ? (For those not schooled in radar images, look at the southwest portion and notice the purple color in the composite image.)

You too can do this comparison thanks to the magic of the internet and Weather Underground. Not to mention your good-for-nothin’-except-spending-MY-taxes-and tryin’-to-pull-the-plug-on-granny government that built the radar sites. (Sorry ‘bout that. I just get tired of hearing that kind of tripe.) Start at this page. Click on the radar site (the white “+” ) closest to your home. “Click and drag” yourself a “box” around your county or the area you are interested in. (If you mess that up just click on “Full Zoom Out” in the top right corner of the image and try it again.) Once you’ve got the area you want depicted, take a look at the left side of the radar image and notice the thin gray strip that has the vertical writing on it. “ “Advanced Radar Types: CLICK.” Click on that and a whole new world opens up for you. Have fun. (P.S. You can animate the whole thing too.)

Don Brown
August 30, 2009