Users fled to RadarScope to track yesterday’s big severe weather event that resulted in over 40 tornado reports across parts of Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. The following is a look at RadarScope usage during the event, including peak usage during the event, which radar sites were used most, and products most requested.
The peak of RadarScope usage was between 6:00PM and 7:30PM CST, with over 1.3 million requests made during that period. 23 of the 41 tornadoes were reported during this time.
The majority of tornado reports were centered in the northern Texas Panhandle and across southwest Kansas.
As a result, the single site radars most requested during the event were Amarillo, TX, and Dodge City, KS. Here are the top 10 radar sites requested in the last 24 hours:
- KAMA (Amarillo, TX)
- KDDC (Dodge City, KS)
- KFWS (Dallas/Fort Worth)
- KTLX (Oklahoma City)
- KFDR (Frederick, OK)
- KINX (Tulsa, OK)
- KVNX (Vance AFB, OK)
- KDYX (Dyer AFB, TX)
- KGRK (Austin, TX)
- KLBB (Lubbock, TX)
Cloud-to-ground lightning strikes accounted for the most requested product in RadarScope – a result of impressive amounts of lightning produced in these storms. As far as individual radar products, WDT’s SuperRes Reflectivity (Tilt 1) was the most requested, followed by SuperRes Velocity (Tilt 1).
Users interrogating storms at the KAMA and KDDC sites were drawn to RadarScope’s Correlation Coefficient product, a dual polarization product that is particularly useful in identifying Tornado Debris Signatures. The Correlation Coefficient was the third most sought after radar product behind Reflectivity and Velocity.
