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Weather Discussion => General Weather Chat => Topic started by: P71nnacle on June 28, 2011, 11:19:28 AM

Title: NWS Pittsburgh among first to receive dual-polarization radar
Post by: P71nnacle on June 28, 2011, 11:19:28 AM

Good news for those of us in the Pittsburgh area....NWS states  on their website (http://"http://www.erh.noaa.gov/pbz/wcm/Dualpol/") that the on-site radar (PBZ) will be among the first in the nation to receive the dual-pol(arization) capabilities. Dual-pol, essentially scanning on both a horizontal band and a vertical band vs. simply horizontal, will allow for a more detailed picture of the weather, from improved precipitation type forecasting with bright banding, to being able to more accurately forecast hail and shear.

Note that from July 6 to 16, PBZ will be offline, so you will have to view Pittsburgh weather from the surrounding sites in Cleveland, State College, Wilmington, and so on. However, it is all in the good, and definitely is worth the money (I took a class while at NWS on the benefits of dual-pol....if you have GR2Analyst, it will mean an even more detailed picture of convection!)

I'm thinking the reasons why they picked Pittsburgh are not only because of the wide variety of weather (ice, snow, hail, brightbanding, all of which dual-pol radar is beneficial) but also because the radar is on-site (essentially next to the building) so that any malfunctions in the test phase can be fixed easily.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the dual-polarization radar, view more details here: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/dualpol/ (http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/dualpol/)

Title: Re: NWS Pittsburgh among first to receive dual-polarization radar
Post by: phw115wvwx on June 28, 2011, 02:02:23 PM

It'll be towards the end of 2012 when my office can finally get this upgrade. :hmm:  I sure hope this helps everyone out as it has a lot of potential after taking some lessons in it.

Title: Re: NWS Pittsburgh among first to receive dual-polarization radar
Post by: TWCC_DJK5555 on October 16, 2011, 05:34:08 PM

The upgrade for Chicago (LOT) begins tomorrow 10/17 and will be completed on 10/28.

I'm glad they waited until after severe weather season.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=lot&storyid=73942&source=0 (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=lot&storyid=73942&source=0)

Title: Re: NWS Pittsburgh among first to receive dual-polarization radar
Post by: TWCCraig on October 16, 2011, 10:58:34 PM

Quote from: TWCC_DJK5555 on October 16, 2011, 05:34:08 PM

I'm glad they waited until after severe weather season.

I'm guessing that's sarcasm right? :hmm:

Title: Re: NWS Pittsburgh among first to receive dual-polarization radar
Post by: TWCC_DJK5555 on October 23, 2011, 09:48:32 PM

Quote from: GTAIVman on October 16, 2011, 10:58:34 PM

Quote from: TWCC_DJK5555 on October 16, 2011, 05:34:08 PM

I'm glad they waited until after severe weather season.

I'm guessing that's sarcasm right? :hmm:

Actually, no.

Title: Re: NWS Pittsburgh among first to receive dual-polarization radar
Post by: TWCC_DJK5555 on October 25, 2011, 09:45:45 PM

I thought the IntelliSTAR used the NWS Radar?  I was expecting it to be "temporarily unavailable" during the outage/upgrade.   :dunno:

Title: Re: NWS Pittsburgh among first to receive dual-polarization radar
Post by: Zach on October 25, 2011, 09:52:56 PM

Quote from: TWCC_DJK5555 on October 25, 2011, 09:45:45 PM

I thought the IntelliSTAR used the NWS Radar?  I was expecting it to be "temporarily unavailable" during the outage/upgrade.   :dunno:

No, its a radar from TWC

Title: Re: NWS Pittsburgh among first to receive dual-polarization radar
Post by: toxictwister00 on November 01, 2011, 02:24:03 PM

KFFC (Atlanta/Peachtree City) is getting this update starting on the 28th this month.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/?n=dual_pol_announcement (http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/?n=dual_pol_announcement)

Title: Re: NWS Pittsburgh among first to receive dual-polarization radar
Post by: Jared on November 13, 2011, 02:08:42 AM

Kind of shocked Sterling isn't getting dual-pol a lot sooner, but so it goes.  Can't wait to get it here.  Have been playing with a few of the upgraded sites in RadarScope and that is some darn fine data to have around...

Title: Re: NWS Pittsburgh among first to receive dual-polarization radar
Post by: TWCC_DJK5555 on November 30, 2011, 08:32:17 PM

Chicago caught some interesting information recently...


Dual-Pol Radar at NWS Chicago Captures Transitioning Precipitation (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=lot&storyid=75705&source=0)