Tulsa National Weather Service Upgrades Radar

The main National Weather Service radar for Tulsa is off line while it’s calibrated after a major mechanical upgrade.

The radar electronics are essentially the same, but the mechanism that moves the radar replaces one installed in 1993.

Workers removed the dome to access the interior, and used a large crane to remove the mechanism. The spectacle of the dome not where it’s supposed to be made neighbors like Clint Knox look twice. “And I saw the dome down on the ground and I thought it fell off, but now that I see the crane, that’s so cool.”

The entire mount for the radar was replaced, with a new one carefully lifted onto the tower. The dish of the radar has been disassembled and left up on the tower.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Steve Piltz said the update included some minor electronics, but was mainly intended to ensure the mechanical portion of the radar would work without interruption for years ahead. He described the NEXRAD site as the foundation of the Tulsa forecast.

The weather service expects it will take about a week to get the radar calibrated and back in service.