General Information about Weather Radars

---

The microwave radiation emitted by a weather radar typically has a wavelength in the range between a few centimeters and 10 centimeters. Radiation with these wavelengths will reflect from objects that are sufficiently large, but will propagate right past smaller objects. Objects typically large enough to reflect microwaves emitted by a weather radar include:

• rain drops, snowflakes, hailstones, and other forms of precipitation;
• birds;
• insects;
• airplanes; and
• nearby buildings and mountains (if the radar is aimed too low).

A weather radar can typically see no farther than a couple of hundred miles, so the National Weather Service has established a network of radars spaced several hundred miles apart across the U.S. to reveal large-scale patterns of precipitation. The information gathered by the network of weather radars is sent to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP, formerly called the National Meteorological Center, or NMC) in Washington, D.C., which assembles the data into a composite radar summary. The weather-radar maps (U.S. Overview) and radar echo patterns shown on California subregional weather maps and other western U.S. subregional weather maps are all constructed from NCEP composite radar data.

The National Weather Service is currently replacing its network of older "conventional" radars with about 135 WSR-88D Doppler radars. Like conventional radars, Doppler radars can detect the presence and intensity of precipitation, but unlike conventional radars, Doppler radars can also measure the speed with which precipitation moves toward or away from the radar, which provides indirect information about wind speeds and wind patterns in precipitating clouds. Such information can reveal the presence of strong wind shear near the ground (a hazard when aircraft try to take off or land), as well as circulation patterns (called mesocyclones) that can develop inside some severe thunderstorms before such storms produce tornadoes. (Note, however, that maps constructed from the NCEP composite radar data show only precipitation patterns, intensities, etc., not wind speeds and wind directions.)

(For more specific information about what weather-radar maps can show, see information on weather-radar maps (U.S. Overview).)

(The time and date appearing on these maps is in Universal Time Coordinates (UTC), formerly known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). See comments about time labels for more information.)