Critical Fire Weather Conditions Continue for Southern California; Much Colder in the Central and Eastern U.S.

Critical fire weather conditions will continue for coastal southern California through today due to moderate to locally strong Santa Ana winds. Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warnings remain in effect. Cold temperatures continue today from the Midwest to the central Appalachians, with a brief warm up for the end of the week. Another Arctic cold snap is expected over the weekend. Read More >

Scheduled Radar Outage for Transmitter Refurbish Beginning September 23

September 18, 2019
Update 9/25/19 3:30 PM CDT: September 25, 2019 - The NWS North Platte radar has returned to service at 3:30 PM CDT.

Beginning September 23, 2019 the WSR-88D radar operated by the NOAA National Weather Service in North Platte, Nebraska will be down for approximately five days for the refurbishment of the transmitter. Although the form, fit, and function of the transmitter will remain the same, old breakers and cables original to the radar will be replaced with modern fuses and new cables. This will help keep the 20-year-old radar operating smoothly for another 20 years.

This transmitter update is the second major project of the NEXRAD Service Life Extension Program, a series of upgrades and replacements that will keep our nation’s radars viable into the 2030’s. NOAA National Weather Service, the United States Air Force, and the Federal Aviation Administration are investing $150 million in the seven year program. The first project was the installation of the new signal processor. The two remaining projects are the refurbishment of the pedestal and equipment shelters. The Service Life Extension Program will complete in 2022.

During the downtime, adjacent radars include: Denver, Colorado (KFTG); Cheyenne, Wyoming (KCYS); Rapid City, South Dakota (KUNR); Sioux Falls, South Dakota (KFSD); Omaha, Nebraska (KOAX); Hastings, Nebraska (KUDX); and Goodland, Kansas (KGLD). For direct access to any of these surrounding radar sites, go to the following web page:

https://radar.weather.gov/index.htm

The 2019 WSR-88D is part of a network of 159 operational radars. The Radar Operations Center in Norman, Oklahoma, provides lifecycle management and support for all WSR-88Ds.

For a radar mosaic loop of the upper Mississippi River Valley:

https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/Conus/uppermissvly_loop.php

The National Weather Service in North Platte, Nebraska can be found on social media at: https://www.facebook.com/NWSNorthPlatte/ -or- https://twitter.com/NWSNorthPlatte

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Critical Fire Weather Conditions Continue for Southern California; Much Colder in the Central and Eastern U.S.

Weather Service Radar Maintenance Beginning September 23