The Nation : Weather Radar System Gets High Marks

The nation’s new high-tech weather radar system has passed its first test and is now headed for a detailed evaluation, the National Weather Service announced. On a scale of 1 to 100, NEXRAD, or Next Generation Weather Radar, scored a 91 at detecting severe storms in five months of tests at the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center in Norman, Okla. By comparison, the current weather radar system averaged only a 58 in similar tests. NWS Director Elbert W. Friday Jr. said more performance and reliability testing must be done before the system, which will be used by the Weather Service, Federal Aviation Administration, Air Force and Navy, can be installed across the country. In addition to improving the ability to forecast tornadoes, thunderstorms, hailstorms and damaging winds, the new radars also had less than half as many false alarms as the current system.