Outdated tech puts lives at risk from weather, storms, tornadoes

With the public increasingly on edge, keeping an eye out on the weather, storms, tornadoes, and other hazards, technology in the form of the aging NEXRAD radar network reaching the end of its lifespan should make everyone a bit more concerned.

Specifically, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that NEXRAD would soon become obsolete, prompting it to develop a plan for the deployment of the Phased Array Radar (PAR) system, but which could stall due to proposed budget cuts, as FOX Weather reported earlier.

Indeed, if the budget cuts to NOAA pass, they would slash essential research funding and slow down tech advancements that would otherwise assist in the deployment of next-generation radar systems that meteorologists say could dramatically improve severe weather forecasting and save lives.

Notably, the Trump administration has proposed to reduce NOAA’s budget well below its current level at more than $6 billion, and it could hit the organization’s National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), which has introduced the PAR system to replace the old NEXRAD that’s been around since the 1990s.

Weather, storms, tornadoes require real-time data

The current system can miss rapidly evolving events due to its scan rate of four to six minutes, whereas PAR systems can scan the atmosphere in under a minute, providing near-real-time updates on storm developments, and allowing NOAA to issue more timely warnings with fewer errors.

As it happens, the organization has already launched a PAR prototype back in 2021 and has collected hundreds of hours of atmospheric data, including from over a dozen tornadic supercells. Per Ryan Bunker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman Oklahoma:

“It was definitely a huge plus, not only for the location of warnings but just overall, lead time as well. Using PAR data definitely can give you the confidence to issue warnings quicker – and to extend that lead time to protect life and property.”

Meanwhile, scientists have warned that stalling PAR could jeopardize public safety, considering that the current NEXRAD system is about to become completely obsolete, ending its intended lifespan. According to Dr. Dana Carlis, NSSL’s Director:

“The next 10 years are critical for the future of weather radar in the United States. (…) PAR is ready to be part of Radar Next and will serve as a critical infrastructure investment that advances our understanding of severe weather.”

Elsewhere, lives could be endangered by another weather-altering threat – the Yellowstone supervolcano that has seen a bit more seismic and thermal activity in March, when a new volcanic vent opened in the Roadside Springs region, reigniting fears of a possibly devastating 1,000-year eruption.