Dual Pole Radar

Columbus, Miss. (WCBI) – Meteorologist now have the technology to detect flying debris with advanced radars that use dual pole technology.

“If there’s a tornado on the ground, if it’s picking up debris, you can actually detect that using the dual pole radar,” says Drew McCombs, Baron Radar Expert.

Essentially the radar can interrogate a storm more today than ever before.

“Typically you would have a horizontally oriented pulse of radar  going out. What the dual pole is, it actually adds in a vertical pulse as well,:” says McCombs.

That gives meteorologists a better picture of what’s going on.

“When you see that signature in the new dual pole radar, it tells the meteorologist – ok we know for sure that’s there’s a tornado on the ground. Depending on where it’s located, if it’s in a rural area where there is not many people out there, then you may not know for sure it’s on the ground. But if you see that signature you can be pretty certain that there is a tornado on the ground,” says McCombs.

“It’s a huge leap forward in our ability to know that we have a tornado and that people need to take cover,” says McCombs.

With more time to take shelter from a storm, the more lives can be saved.