GRAND RAPIDS (WKZ0) — Why was there no tornado warning in Portland on Monday? Why did Kalamazoo get a warning complete with sirens when there was no tornado?
Shortcomings in weather radar systems makes it difficult for forecasters to accurately see the small tornadoes that typically pop up in Michigan. They literally fly under the radar.
Their radar dish is based at Gerald Ford Airport and the curvature of the earth means 30 to 40 miles out, they can’t see anything near the ground.
At Portland they can only see what is going on 2500 feet above the surface and higher.
By the time the radar sweeps around and hits Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, it can’t see anything below 3700 feet in the air.
It is designed primarily to protect the largest population center in this part of the country, Grand Rapids. .
THe best they can do is general warnings and then leave it to us to use our common sense. When the rain starts flying sideways, its time to hit the cellar. The radar owned by the TV stations have the same problem, they are blind close to the ground in the southern counties.
The National Weather Service says it will be a decade or more before they have the short-spaced 3-d radar they need to really do accurate warnings.
