New toy for the weather guesser?

[Lester]

High-Speed Storm Radars to Track Tornadoes, Fend Off Tragedy
When tornadoes start killing Boy Scouts, the world pays attention. But even as a deadly EF-4 tornado whipped through Little Sioux, Iowa, with 145-mph-plus winds last Wednesday night, federal climate scientists and a group of university researchers were in the early phases of testing high-tech replacements for an aging Doppler radar system. Twisters across the United States in 2008 are headed for a record-setting pace (February's 148 nearly doubled a 37-year-old record); however, by 2013 a new network of satellites could be triangulating microfrequencies from the sky to Wi-Fi for real-time reactions to dangerously shape-shifting weather patterns.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... 69052.html

[AmpedNow]

America's current system for detecting tornadoes—about 120 Next Generation Radar, or NEXRAD, devices tracking a storm's direction and velocity—has been the backbone of weather prediction since the early 1990s, but experts say it is deeply flawed. The radars are tilted upward from the Earth half a degree, which may not seem like much—until you factor in the curvature of the Earth. By the time you get 40 or 50 miles out, radar beams are more than one-half mile high, therefore missing the bottom third of the troposphere where severe weather often begins to form. And at 5 to 6 minutes for a complete area scan, NEXRAD simply remains too slow.

I would imagine that mountainous terrain complicates things even more. Most "real time" radar in WV is inaccurate, or outdated by 10-15 minutes.

As for tornadoes, there also that prevalent myth among many WVians that tornadoes don't hit here, because of protection from the mountains. Nobody pays attention to weather watches as it is. Esp tornado watches, because "we just don't get them 'round here".

I'm afraid this myth is going to get a lot of people killed someday...

[Lester]

Never had that problem in Elkins... they've had them before.

[Dave Loudin]

Kingwood, too.

[genlock]

If people are killed by the weather, the sensational weather reporting and fear mongering of the media shoulder a lot of the blame.
Stations have comitted so much money to weather systems (computers and contracts with pro weather forcasters) that a large
return is expected. That is why we see the weather 5 ot 6 times a newscast. Besides, calling up a web page from the weather company is a lot easier than digging for and reporting news events. Weather is also client neutral or slightly client positive. A forecast of, say, a blizzard will sell a lot of candles, batteries, canned food and stuff like that. Each station consultant will go with a trend. The curret trend is to push weather.

[Dr. Whiplash]

I would imagine that mountainous terrain complicates things even more. Most "real time" radar in WV is inaccurate, or outdated by 10-15 minutes...

It's not terrain. The majority of TV weather radar displays are composite feeds purchased from vendors who receive and regurgitate radar returns from NWS radars. I don't know the particulars when it comes to time frames but larger, better-funded stations have faster turnaround times from the live feeds to their cartoon radar displays. For those of us in SE OH and NW WV who receive WBNS Columbus, which has its own radar site at Bolton Field, the difference is very obvious. There's nothing like having your own radar to show "Superduper 3-D Triple Doppler with Fake Radar Sweeps" for what it is.

As for tornadoes, there also that prevalent myth among many WVians that tornadoes don't hit here, because of protection from the mountains. Nobody pays attention to weather watches as it is. Esp tornado watches, because "we just don't get them 'round here". I'm afraid this myth is going to get a lot of people killed someday...

Yep, and it's happened before. See: Shinnston tornado of 1944.

[Oldiesdude]

This post brings to mind something that happened about, 15 years ago in St. Marys. A friend I work with was in his trailer on top of a hill. He was walking from the bedroom towards the livingroom when he heard what he thought was a train. (There are no train tracks near by.) He ran to his wife and kid in the Livingroom and had them hit the floor. In the next few moments the whole sides and top of the trailer just lifted off, leaving them on the floor and looking outside. The real FUNNY thing about this is, a house next door, which was a brick house had the corner of it ripped off. This was the part of the house were the bathroom was located. The owner had just sat down to take care of business. He found hmself and commode, out in the field beside the house. No one was injured in both, but I figure the one guy REALLY S#%T himself.