A 2020 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration examined what it calls radar coverage gaps. It shows that gaps in NEXRAD radar coverage below 6,000 feet do not significantly affect weather warnings for events like flash floods or tornadoes. The report says that both public and private sector forecasters arbitrarily say that increasing NEXRAD coverage would improve their ability to warn. But the data shows, is the humans issuing the warnings, not the radar.
"The analogy that I like to use is just because we haven't had a car accident doesn't mean we don't have a blind spot."
Skot Covert is chief meteorologist for 5NEWS, the CBS affiliate in Northwest Arkansas. The report by NOAA does not explicitly name Northwest Arkansas as a place with gap coverage. In fact, there are NEXRAD radars in Fort Smith, Little Rock, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Springfield, Missouri that all to an extent help to provide forecast coverage for the region. Covert says when it comes to weather radar coverage, it's important to remember that the earth is round.
"And the curvature of the earth makes a big difference. So when we're talking about a Fort Smith radar, we're looking in the lower elevations, we're looking in the lower levels of the storm. Where tornadoes happen. The further that beam gets away from the site of the radar. So for instance, in Fayetteville or Bentonville, we're looking noticeably higher up in the storm, meaning we may miss what happens at the lower levels. When we start talking about storm tracking in Northwest Arkansas, we have to keep in mind we're now looking at about 5,000 to 6,000 feet above the surface."
There are more than 150 NEXRAD radars in operation across the U.S. right now, and it's very unlikely the federal government will be adding any more to its count.
"They've made it pretty clear they're not adding new coverage to the backbone network. They're going to partner with other partners to make that happen."
That's Tara Goode, the vice president of radar operations and strategic partnerships at Climavision. And Climavision is one of those partners making it happen. Goode says Climavision is a partner with the National Weather Service, and it uses the weather service's network as a guide to bridge gaps in coverage.
"To give you a flavor of what we've done so far, we have 30 radars online and 15 states will be installing about 170 when all is said and done. And so we got a lot of work to do in front of us. But it's a new and novel way to get this needed data into the hands of the people who need it most."
Goode says from a technical standpoint, the most important thing a weather radar needs is a clear line of sight, so that it can see 360 degrees all around. To accommodate for that, Climavision elevates its radars 100 feet up in the air or more, whether that's on top of a water tower or a building or some other pre-existing structure.
"So that's kind of the first thing they need. They are sophisticated pieces of equipment. We do have to process a lot of data. So they need utilities like electric, natural gas for our backup power generators, and then importantly, fiber to ensure that we can get that data flowing where it needs to go once it's been collected by the radar system."
The radar itself is surprisingly small. It's an 8-foot dish inside of a 12-foot radar dome, which is the best way to describe it, is a very large golf ball, is what it looks like, and that oversized golf ball is focused on covering those lower levels. The kind of coverage, Covert says, that could allow them to see the ground level.
"Well, tornadoes happen at the surface. And so we're missing what's happening on the ground level. We are absolutely missing what's happening on the ground level. Does that mean we can't still see rotation and enough so to be concerned with in the mid levels of the storm. Absolutely, we can see it. And we know that that is something we want to know about too. But we aren't seeing the ground level. We aren't seeing what's happening where the worst of the weather is going to happen. That being specific to tornadogenesis.
"When it comes to flash flooding, which is a common occurrence, especially given the floodplains, the topography around here, we really, I don't want to say we're flying blind, but we aren't operating with a full deck of cards. We don't have a full, complete picture of what's happening in some of these thunderstorms because we're looking far too high in the sky."
It's important to remember the separation between public and private in this weather radar world. The National Weather Service and its radars, those NEXRAD radars, are paid for by our tax dollars. Climavision, on the other hand, is a private, for-profit company. Climavision is responsible for the capital needed for the construction of those oversized golf balls going in. But the way they make a profit is by selling the data they collect from those radars. Goode describes it as data as a service, and that data is used by more than just your TV weatherman.
"Other sectors like the utility space, the transportation space, definitely state and local government is another area that we work with, not just the federal government, because they're partnering with their weather service partners and they're making different decisions such as where to stage their assets and their resources. They know a lot more about their communities, where the vulnerable populations might be. So local and state government is often one of our first stops as well."
She says it's not just the public sector that is looking for this kind of data.
"When you think of logistics and transportation companies or folks like Walmart or FedEx who are moving large goods in very complex logistical systems, what is the most impactful thing? Typically, why is your FedEx package normally delayed? Why is your Walmart package normally delayed? It's often weather."
Covert says the meteorologists who work for Walmart are thinking about more than just weather delays for your delivery order.
"Not only business decisions, but safety decisions in terms of not only their employees or associates, but the community in which they work and live. All of that comes down to radar that right now we're relying on coming out of government feeds, which, as the study in 2020 suggested, we're doing okay. But gosh, it could be so much better."
Climavision hopes that the addition of three new weather radars across the state of Arkansas will do just that. One Climavision radar is already operating in southeast Arkansas in Dermott. The other three planned sites include one in Prescott in Nevada County, another in Madison County and a third in Salem, the county seat of Fulton County. Goode has a go to metaphor to describe the addition of these radars.
"So like shining a flashlight in a dark room. If you don't have a flashlight on, you can't see. So these radars are flashlight and can provide that illumination of the lower atmosphere that we didn't, most people didn't even know they were missing."
The metaphorical flashlights are still tentative. Climavision does not have a date or precise location confirmed for the three radars. So until then, folks like Skot Covert will have to continue doing their best work with the radar data they have.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
