BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – The tallest building on the Texas A&M campus is home to a new high-resolution radar that gives the First Alert Weather Team the ability to monitor storms more accurately than ever before, all thanks to BTU.
A collaboration between BTU, Climavision, Texas A&M University and KBTX has brought cutting-edge radar technology right to our neighborhood, transforming how we monitor storms and their impacts on the Brazos Valley.
Although there is a nationwide radar network, there are many gaps and large data gaps limit the capabilities of meteorologists.
One of those gaps was right here in the Brazos Valley. Before this First Alert radar was installed, the closest radar scan came from KRGRK, a site 62 miles west of Bryan-College Station in Granger. KGRK provides lower resolution scans every six minutes, and by the time the scan reaches BCS, it is about 4,000 feet above the surface. That means we were missing important data from the lowest layers of the atmosphere.
This new radar delivers high-resolution scans every three minutes with a beam height of just 300 feet. Not only has this filled a data gap, but it has also given the First Alert Weather Team the ability to provide more accurate and timely data from the first drop to the last rumble.
This is the only radar here in Aggieland that covers the entire Brazos Valley, and your First Alert Weather Team has exclusive access to it. This allows KBTX to keep you safer than ever before.
All rights reserved.
