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First Alert Doppler - Part III
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Source: KOAA
Published Thu Oct 02, 2008, 06:21 PM MDT
Updated Thu Mar 26, 2009, 03:09 PM MDT
First Alert Doppler: Get the Early Warning
Part III - "How It Works"
First Alert Doppler was built southeast of Colorado Springs and northeast of Pueblo in a spot elevated above the surrounding land and set back from the mountains. The radar's got an excellent view of the skies in every direction.
From the outside, it looks like a golf ball on a tee - a huge dome perched atop a 50 foot tower. Inside the dome, an 8 foot radar dish is constantly rotating. It sends out a beam that "reads" or "sees" the weather conditions, then reports back. This information is put together into a clear picture of what's going on out there - live, right now.
This obviously includes live images of dangerous storm cells, but it also includes countless critical details, like wind speeds at different elevations - or "wind sheer" - which can alert the team to a storm's rotation and a potential tornado.
"From an ideal location, the First Alert Doppler is always watching, always scanning our skies, giving Mike Daniels, Mike Madson, and me up-to-the-second details so we can always give you the early warning," says Craig Eliot.
When you click the video link below, you'll launch a 2:10 video explaining in basic terms how the Doppler radar works. It's hosted by Craig Eliot at the Doppler radar site.
Click here to go to Part I - "Get the Early Warning" with Mike Madson.
Click here to go to Part II - "Truly Live" with Mike Daniels.
Click here to go to Part IV - "Saving Lives" with Bill Meck, Chief Meteorologist at WLEX-TV in Lexington, KY.
First Alert Doppler - Part III
