February 26, 2020

New weather radar system coming

By Ashleigh Plemper
Farmer Staff Writer

After an EF2 tornado that struck Watford City in the summer of 2018 failed to show up on the National Weather Service radar system, a new weather radar has been in the works. And next month, it will become fully operational at the Williston International Airport.
“I am ecstatic about the new radar. Some of our summer weather can get pretty ugly sometimes and we just never know what to expect after that last tornado,” says Karolin Jappe, McKenzie County emergency manager.
 The new radar site was developed in direct response to the Watford City tornado that failed to undergo detection and resulted in the death of an infant and injuries to many others.
“I believe with better radar coverage we will be able to give folks plenty of time to get to a storm shelter,” says Jappe.
The radar is a C-band doppler, dual-polarization unit, which is capable of detecting precipitation, wind speed and direction.
The radar is funded by Williams County through a sales tax dedicated to public safety projects, which will cover a region underserved by the existing National Weather Service radar network. 

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WATFORD CITY WEATHER