Radar Offers Texoma Residents Complete Weather Coverage
Baron Weather, Inc., the worldwide provider of scientific weather radars, data, and software, installed a new weather radar system in Durant, Oklahoma, delivering vital weather information to an area underserved by other radars. The entire system, which includes a C-band dual-polarization Doppler radar, a Baron Lynx radar display analysis system workstation, and a customized mobile app, is fully operational.
The area is significant not only due to the frequency of severe weather but also because the community resides within a geographical area with ineffective coverage from the national radar network.
The radar, erected on top of the 196-foot water tower adjacent to a glass manufacturing company on U.S. 70, provides residents and the Native American tribes within the Texoma area with far more accurate forecasts and a more extraordinary ability to monitor severe weather.
Before the radar installation in Durant, the Texoma area lacked adequate coverage. The five closest National Weather Service radars are more than 100 miles away, with the nearest two, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Fort Worth, Texas, 108 and 112 miles away, respectively. The radar is expected to fill a 75- to 85-mile coverage gap and give residents more warning when perilous weather strikes.
Since data from neighboring radars also depicts the atmosphere as more than 10,000 feet high, the weather technology cannot adequately spot tornadoes within this critical region of tornado alley, said Baron Weather President Bob Dreisewerd.
“Even a slight curvature of the earth or change in topography can lead to radar beams shooting above critical weather happening near the surface,” he said. “For example, rotating winds near the surface in a thunderstorm are more likely to be missed by radar beams more than 150 miles from the storm or obscured by mountains.”
The radome, a structural and weather-proof enclosure atop the 196-foot water tower, is 18 feet tall. Because the radar sits atop the water tower, Baron leaders knew installation would be a challenge for a weather technology company.
"Baron is one of the few weather technology companies that can install a radar in unique environments,” said Dreisewerd. “Baron has experience installing radars on top of water towers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Chicago, Illinois.”
The radar is also the first in Oklahoma and Texas to be equipped with Baron’s ClearScan™. This clutter mitigation technology uses machine learning algorithms supported by human intervention to remove extraneous clutter or “noise” from radar returns, providing users with precipitation data with unmatched clarity.
The tool targets radio frequency interference (RF) and anomalous propagation (AP) because technologies like 5G cellular signals have increased interference with weather radars, especially C-Band weather radars.
The city of Durant will provide data free of charge to surrounding communities as a public service, the National Weather Service, Baron Lynx customers, and others. Learn more about building a better radar or understanding different radar options.
