The Bureau of Meteorology is starting works to upgrade the Carnarvon weather radar.
From 6 November 2023 a narrow section of radar coverage to the south will be unavailable on the Bureau’s website and BOM Weather App. This is to ensure that works can be completed safely.
During this time a new radar tower, radome and equipment shelter, approximately 40 metres from the existing weather radar within the Carnarvon Airport precinct, will be constructed.
The radar will then be offline from early February 2024 for approximately 8 weeks (about 2 months) to complete the upgrade.
Bureau Chief Officer, Peter Stone, said the upgraded radar will provide improved services to local communities, emergency services, aviation, agriculture, tourism and maritime safety in the northwest Gascoyne region of Western Australia.
“Benefits of the upgraded radar will include new capabilities that track the location and strength of wind changes using Doppler technology, improved rain image quality and increased accuracy and reliability of the radar.”
Mr Stone added the radar upgrade will also support emergency services to make informed time-critical decisions during severe weather events, to keep the community safe.
“The new technology will provide improved storm prediction and cyclone forecasting which is critical during the severe weather season.”
During the outage, there will be no impact to the Bureau’s forecasts and warnings. In the event of severe weather during the outage period, the existing radar can be turned back on to allow forecasters and the community to monitor the intensity of rainfall.
The project is part of the Bureau’s ongoing work to enhance and improve the Australian radar and observation network.
