Under the Radar: West Alabama Exposed

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A lack of adequate radar coverage in west Alabama makes tracking tornadoes there very difficult. Thousands of our most-vulnerable citizens areto tornadoes due to a lack of low-level radar coverage in that part of the state.Spring in west Alabama can be a beautiful time of year. Flowers bloom, farmers plant their crops and the warm sunshine often falls across the nurturing soil of what’s know as the Alabama Black Belt.

The Millers Ferry tornado that day was an intense tornado associated with a large supercell thunderstorm. It extended up very high into the air; high enough that radar could detect it, thus allowing the National Weather Service to issue a tornado warning before the storm struck.That wasn’t the case on the morning of Feb. 6, 2020, when a quick-hitting EF-1 tornado dropped down onto Marengo County without warning.

The United States government funds and operates a network of weather radars across the country, the best network in the world for those lucky enough to live close to one.A quick radar lesson - radar works by sending out a beam. That beam hits the storm, bounces back, and is received by the radar. Sophisticated calculations based on this “bounce back” allow meteorologists to detect rain, see hail and track rotation in storms.

“Alabama has some of the best radar coverage in the nation - 99% of the state is covered at 6,000 feet or below and 92% is covered at 4,000 feet or below. The National Weather Service forecast offices in Birmingham and Mobile have a track record of warning for the most dangerous and damaging tornadoes - EF 3-5 - 98% of the time, with an average lead time of 20 minutes.

Melissa Dove has a lot on her mind; she’s the Emergency Management Director for Wilcox County. Her calling in life is to keep the people there safe from all threats. The radar gap makes her job more difficult. In fact, an EF-1 tornado hit Camden earlier in the spring of 2022, again, without warning.

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