THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503120308
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Is a pair of distant super-radars at new National Weather Service installations in Virginia and southern North Carolina going to provide enough hurricane protection for the Outer Banks?
The state-of-the-art WSR-88-D Doppler radars are now operating at Wakefield, west of Norfolk, and at Newport,inland from Morehead City, N.C.. Their overlapping storm-seeking beams are supposed to eliminate the need for a replacement of a World War II vintage radar at Buxton on Hatteras Island.
``The National Research Council is making an independent study of the effectiveness of our new radars and we expect to get a report in May,'' said Stephen Harned, meteorologist in charge of National Weather Service operations at Raleigh.
An unfavorable report from the Research Council survey probably would result in a new study to see if one of the new WSR-88-D radars was also needed at Cape Hatteras to fill the gap caused by elimination of the old Buxton radar.
After the Weather Service announced plans last year to decommission the famed Cape Hatteras weather radar, many officials sought reassurance that the far-off Doppler radars would be powerful enough to reach out and touch hurricanes approaching the Outer Banks.
The Buxton radar broke down this month after 40 years of service, and National Weather Service officials suggested that it might not be repaired. Tentative plans are already in place to phase out the old radar by the end of this year, meteorologists said.
The new 88-D radars have a minimum effective range of 125 miles and can pick up towering storm clouds out to 250 miles, weather officials said. The Doppler technique allows accurate tracking of wind direction, and the radars provide county-level coverage of threatening tornados.
Wakefield and Newport have now assumed responsibility for preparing weather forecasts for the Outer Banks and adjacent waters. Many of the veteran U.S. meteorologists at Buxton have been transferred to other duties and only three weathermen remain on Hatteras Island.
Dare County officials this week are pushing a proposal to take over the old National Weather Service building at Buxton on Hatteras Island after the scheduled departure of U.S. forecasters at the end of this year.
The county emergency management director wants to use the building as a storm-proof communications center. County personnel would also be willing to help operate any remaining automated weather service equipment, officials said.
``The Hatteras Island weather forecasts have been a beacon of hope and safety for Dare County for many years,'' said Charles Hartig, the county's information director.
``Eighty of the eight hundred Atlantic hurricanes that have been tracked since 1885 have passed within 65 miles of Cape Hatteras,'' said Hartig, ``So we don't feel it's unreasonable for us to want the best radar we can get down there.'' by CNB