New radar will give better storm warnings

Weather radar technology called "livesaving," that provides faster and more precise storm detection, is set to be tested in Texas, officials say. The near-ground radar system is intended to map weather hazards down to street level when tornadoes, high winds or flash floods threaten. The system gets its first urban test in Dallas-Fort this spring. Near-ground radar will provide faster scans, higher-resolution images and multiple overlapping views of storm cells, officials said. "What we're excited about is that the radar data will help us better detect damaging winds and small circulations of brief tornadoes." Bill Bunting, chief meteorologist for the Fort Worth office of the National Weather Service, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "The other thing that it does very, very well is estimates of rainfall," he said. "So we can use that to issue more precise flash flood warnings." Four of the radar units will be installed, in Fort Worth, Addison, the University of North Texas and the University of Texas at Arlington. Dallas-Fort Worth's 6.5 million people and volatile weather make it an excellent site for testing the new system, officials said. "This is absolutely lifesaving technology," Molly Thoerner, director of emergency preparedness for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said.