OT: NWS KDTX radar outage and upgrade

[kc8bdk]

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI

...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TO UPGRADE ITS DOPPLER RADAR...

IMAGES FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN DETROIT/PONTIAC WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FROM MAY 22 THROUGH MAY 26 DUE TO A SCHEDULED MAJOR SYSTEM UPGRADE. A TEAM OF RADAR TECHNICIANS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR OPERATIONS CENTER WILL INSTALL NEW EQUIPMENT STARTING AT 800 AM EDT MONDAY MAY 22. THE RADAR IS EXPECTED TO BE BACK IN FULL SERVICE BY 500 PM EDT FRIDAY MAY 26. IN ADDITION...THE DETROIT/PONTIAC RADAR WILL OCCASIONALLY BE UNAVAILABLE...MAINLY ON GOOD WEATHER DAYS...PRIOR TO THE WEEK OF MAY 22 AS PREPARATORY WORK FOR THE MAJOR SYSTEM UPGRADE IS COMPLETED.

Sorry for the all caps... its how the NWS sends their text.

[rdale]

Your best bet during that timeframe is to rely on the high-power TV radars surrounding the area that week while NWS is down (the regional NWS radars don't offer very good coverage.)

http://wlns.com
http://wnem.com
http://13abc.com

Other TV station radars are referred to as "toaster ovens" in the weather world due to their lack of power and small dish size, so they don't do much more than tell you where it's raining and where it isn't ;> NWS unfortunately isn't allowed to look at a direct feed to our radar imagery so all they have is web access as well. The local media has a chatroom to discuss events, that hopefully will be up and running by then! NWS DTX has chosen not to be part of that network (GRR is.) Spotters will be VERY important...