Scott Card
04-26-2011, 11:33 AM
Is it me or shouldn't the weather service try to protect their equiment a little better from the WEATHER. :haha: Add a couple more lightening rods will ya.
Lightning strikes weather service tower, fries radar
April 26th, 2011 @ 12:09pm
By Randall Jeppesen
LAYTON -- The wild weather of the past 24 hours made it tough to report the weather at all.
Lightning struck a radar dish on the roof of the National Weather Service in Layton, knocking out the radar tracking system. That affected not just the service, but most major media outlets.
As the cold front moved through the Wasatch Front Monday night, it took direct aim at the National Weather Service radar tower on top of the mountains across from the Great Salt Lake.
The lightning fried the wiring, so the tower hasn't been working since the strike.
Because it's the radar that's out -- the thing that's used to determine the intensity of storms as they pass through -- it has caused problems for meteorologists throughout the region. For instance, media stations use the radar for their predictions, and ski resorts use the radar to watch for lighting.
"Luckily it's not in the middle of flash flood season," said Nanette Hosenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
This same tower also got hit by lighting about eight years ago.
"There's lightning rods as protection for the radar but it was a direct hit to the dome, so there's really nothing you can do to protect against that," Hosenfeld said.
Until service is restored, The National Weather Service has been using a backup radar tower that's run by Salt Lake International Airport to track airplanes. The drawback to this tower is that it's low to the ground, so its coverage area isn't nearly as large as the regular tower. Two technicians have been working on the tower Monday morning, and they say it should be fixed by early afternoon.
Lightning strikes weather service tower, fries radar
April 26th, 2011 @ 12:09pm
By Randall Jeppesen
LAYTON -- The wild weather of the past 24 hours made it tough to report the weather at all.
Lightning struck a radar dish on the roof of the National Weather Service in Layton, knocking out the radar tracking system. That affected not just the service, but most major media outlets.
As the cold front moved through the Wasatch Front Monday night, it took direct aim at the National Weather Service radar tower on top of the mountains across from the Great Salt Lake.
The lightning fried the wiring, so the tower hasn't been working since the strike.
Because it's the radar that's out -- the thing that's used to determine the intensity of storms as they pass through -- it has caused problems for meteorologists throughout the region. For instance, media stations use the radar for their predictions, and ski resorts use the radar to watch for lighting.
"Luckily it's not in the middle of flash flood season," said Nanette Hosenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
This same tower also got hit by lighting about eight years ago.
"There's lightning rods as protection for the radar but it was a direct hit to the dome, so there's really nothing you can do to protect against that," Hosenfeld said.
Until service is restored, The National Weather Service has been using a backup radar tower that's run by Salt Lake International Airport to track airplanes. The drawback to this tower is that it's low to the ground, so its coverage area isn't nearly as large as the regular tower. Two technicians have been working on the tower Monday morning, and they say it should be fixed by early afternoon.