Mind The Gaps

NY NEXRAD. There is a large wind farm nearby with turbines oriented from due north through southeast of the radar. The turbines are close enough (within 18 km) to cause spurious multipath scattering that extends well beyond the wind farm and contaminates data at multiple scanning elevation angles."üOur modern Nexrad (Next-Generation Weather Radar) system is still based on radar

Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Nexrad weather radar displays have significant latency (15-20 minutes), making them a historical record rather than real-time, and should not be solely relied upon for current weather.
Both weather and ATC radar systems suffer from coverage gaps, particularly below 10,000 feet, due to factors like distance from stations, mountainous terrain, and the Earth's curvature.
These radar gaps can lead to misleading or completely missed weather information, especially for low-altitude precipitation, and can result in loss of ATC radar and radio contact.
Pilots must be aware of these "known unknowns" and not assume a complete picture from radar, using all available information and "tribal knowledge" to avoid hazardous situations.

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Most pilots have heard warnings about the timeliness (or lack thereof) of Nexrad radar. Better expressed as latency, the weather you see on your tablet, smartphone or multi-function display from providers like SXM or the FAA’s ADS-B could already be 15-20 minutes out of date. It can’t be said enough: What you see on your Nexrad display is better described as a historical record and has little to do with what’s happening right now.