For the first time, forecasters with the National Weather Service detected and issued a warning for a tornado based fully on a new generation of radar called Phased Array right here in Oklahoma.
On April 28th, a supercell capable of producing a tornado near Caney, Oklahoma, just south of the 2 News Oklahoma viewing area, was being scanned by this stationary, flat-paneled radar known as the Advanced Technology Demonstrator or ATD for short.
Meteorologists in Norman had access to the rapid flow of data from this radar and were able then able to quickly alert residents around Caney to what became an EF2-rated twister.
This type of radar has been around for a few decades, but researchers with CIWRO, the Cooperative Institute of Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations, within OU, partnered with the National Severe Storms Laboratory, are demonstrating how this greatly improved technology can provide more timely, accurate warnings, and better detect what strength of tornado, if any, will occur.
2 News spoke with one of their researchers, Kris Tuftedal, about what makes the ATD stand out from traditional radars.
“The NWS forecasters cited that they were really able to see the rotation ramping up much sooner with the ATD data," Tuftedal say. "We’re able to scan these storms, like I mentioned earlier, a lot faster.”
That is around four times faster than traditional, WSR-88D radars that we use. Part of the reason is that the Phased Array ATD based in Norman was only scanning a certain sector, whereas traditional radars scan in a full 360-degree sweep, taking up more time. The result is an incredible depiction of the storm.
“It is like watching a 60-frame per second video compared to the 88-Ds being almost like claymation," Tufetedal describes. "Sort of like that, jumpy here’s one frame, here’s another frame and you have to figure out what’s going on between those two. With the ATD data, it’s like watching a fluid moving, basically seeing the atmosphere as it is.”
Tuftedal says capturing the Caney tornado is only the beginning. The success of Phased Array radars will hopefully lead to the upgrade of the aging radar network around the country to provide more timely, accurate warnings for all types of weather.
For more on this radar milestone, click here.
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