Bob Hill is the Brookings County emergency manager.

In preparation for fall, I thought the following information showing what the National Weather Service is doing behind the scenes to protect our citizens — not just locally, but nationwide. 

In past columns, we discussed that the NWS issues weather watches and warnings to the public and that we use these products to inform you as quickly as we can. This article describes some of the upgrades and changes occurring with the NWS to allow the organization to do its job.

The NWS’s Radar Operations Center completed a $150 million, nine-year service life extension that extends the lifespan of the 159 weather radars that make up the nation’s Next Generation Weather Radar Network. The NEXRAD radar is a vital tool used by National Weather Service forecasters to warn their communities of severe and hazardous weather and ultimately save lives and property.

With the refurbishment of the radar pedestal in Missoula, Mont., earlier this month, all 122 National Weather Service NEXRAD systems have been fully upgraded. Additionally, 37 NEXRAD systems owned and maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense have also been upgraded, completing the upgrade of the entire weather radar network.

“We have improved our radar network by eliminating obsolete items while investing in new technology,” said Terry Clark, Radar Operations Center director. “We are already seeing the positive results of this project in reduced life-cycle costs due to less maintenance needs. A bonus is that we are maintaining radar availability at a high level after trending down before the upgrades, and the number of parts needing to be replaced has decreased by approximately 50 percent since 2018.” 

Technicians repaired and refurbished major components to extend the operability of the radars beyond 2035 in a project that was completed on time and under budget. The Service Life Extension Program included five major upgrades:

1. Digital signal processor refresh: The computer equipment that controls the radar and processes the radar data was modernized.

2. Transmitter refresh: The transmitter components were redesigned, and all infrastructure wiring was replaced to improve reliability and maintainability.

3. Pedestal refurbishment: All moving components in the radar pedestal that rotates the radar dish were inspected and replaced or refurbished.

4. Equipment shelter refurbishment: The shelters that house the radar and generator equipment were refreshed with new paint, seals and doors as needed.

5. New generators: The emergency generator, used to keep the radar running in the event power is lost, was replaced to meet compliance with EPA guidelines and address emerging obsolescence.

NEXRAD technology was developed in the 1980s and built in the 1990s. While incremental upgrades and modernization have occurred in the last 20 years, this SLEP effort addressed the major components that had not been updated, were obsolete, or required additional refresh of technology. These SLEP upgrades will ensure the radar’s reliability, maintainability, and availability into the next decade.

To ensure the reliability of weather radar technology beyond the next decade, NOAA is developing requirements for Radar Next. This program will identify and deploy the next generation of radar coverage to improve public safety, enhance disaster preparedness, and advance scientific research and climate studies. 

Hazard made simple

The National Weather Service’s  ongoing hazard simplification project is designed to simplify information communication, improve understanding, and enhance the utility of forecasts and warnings. As the next step in Haz Simp, the NWS will be consolidating its cold-related products. These changes inform public and partner engagements, surveys, and social science research.

On or about Oct. 1, the following changes will be made:

• Hard freeze watches/warnings will be freeze watches/warnings.

• Wind chill watches/warnings will be extreme cold watches/warnings.

• Wind chill advisory will be replaced with cold weather advisory

These products will be issued as non-precipitation weather messages. The changes aim to simplify messaging by using a single product type for extreme cold/wind chill and freeze/hard freeze, leading to clearer watch/warning/advisory maps. The intent is to ensure that cold conditions are not overlooked amidst messaging for larger winter precipitation events.

Need to know

The new NWS Cold Products will allow the NWS to communicate that cold is dangerous with or without wind. Wind chill will not go away although emphasis will be placed on “cold is cold” for public safety. 

Consolidation of NWS freeze and hard freeze products into one streamlined freeze watch/ warning with enhanced language for hard freeze conditions as needed will simplify and improve messaging and service delivery. 

The scope of the frost services is focused on vegetation and agriculture taking into account growing season, impacts, and precautionary/preparedness actions. 

What are the benefits? 

• Streamline forecast process 

• Unify terms across the United States 

• Simplified messaging by using a single product type for extreme cold and           wind chill 

• Simplified messaging by using a single product for freeze and hard freeze 

• Ability to message that cold is dangerous with or without wind 

• Ability to offer clearer watch/warning/ advisory maps 

The bottom line for Brookings County residents is that the language in the messages that get sent out by the NWS and the County EM office will look different, but they should be more precise in what you can expect.

September is National Preparedness Month and next week I will start on actions that you can take to get ready for fall and you know what comes after that. 

Until then, keep an eye on the sky.

Bob the EM