Benton County, Tenn. – The Benton County Commission has voted to partner with Climavision to allow the installation of an X-Band weather radar in Benton County, which will help fill a gap in weather coverage in between neighboring NEXRAD S-Band radars.
Installation of this radar is projected sometime in the Spring of 2023. Because of regional topography and the nature of weather radar technology, gaps can exist between systems as radar beams send energy higher in the atmosphere the further it gets from the radar location. This leaves some areas, such as Benton County, exposed to weather phenomena that often happens in the lower atmosphere such as flash flooding, sleet, ice, and tornadoes.
The dual-polarization, X-Band weather radar is designed specifically to fill these small gaps to provide the highest resolution view of what’s happening on the ground. While all warnings and notices will continue to come through official National Weather Service channels, the system will provide critical visibility enabling forecasters and emergency officials to better plan, prepare, and respond to volatile weather situations.
“We’re very excited to provide a home for this system,” said Benton County Mayor Brett Lashlee. “We know plugging this gap in information will help us continue our mission to keep our community safe.”
“We have worked four hard years to become a ‘Storm Ready Community’ and although we received such prestigious honor from the National Weather Service, the radar coverage was the last component needed to provide for full-coverage monitoring in detecting severe weather in our area,” Lashlee said. “We see this addition as the is the icing on the cake in alerting our citizens in a timely manner. With our partnership with Climavision, we now feel that we are the premier rural community in America with such complete severe weather informational coverage”.
Climavision’s X-Band weather radar is a proprietary, solid state, low-powered system manufactured in the United States. It is safe and licensed by the FCC. Benton County expects the system to be installed and operational within 12 months and the EMA and government officials will receive access to the real-time data.
About Climavision:
Headquartered in Louisville, KY, Climavision installs weather infrastructure across the United States to fill gaps in information so that communities, governments, and businesses can better respond to increasingly volatile weather. In addition to installing physical hardware for real-time weather observation, Climavision also collects proprietary satellite data to produce high-performing numerical weather prediction and models. The company provides weather information to a variety of industries including aviation, media, agriculture, energy, government.