NWS Louisville Doppler Radar Enhanced Echo Tops

Widespread Showers in the Eastern US; Severe Thunderstorms in the Plains; Heatwave in the Desert Southwest

Widespread showers and thunderstorms across much of the central and eastern U.S. will produce areas of excessive rainfall, especially in the southern Mid-Atlantic states. Scattered severe thunderstorms are expected from Montana into portions of the central/southern Plains this weekend. A heatwave will build in the Desert Southwest, in parts of Arizona, southeastern California, and southern Nevada. Read More >

NWS Doppler Radar (WSR-88D) Example Products

A derived product from NWS Doppler radar is Enhanced Echo Tops. The radar estimates echo tops of precipitation-producing systems, including thunderstorms, based on data from various levels. Any color enhancement curve can be placed on the data to highlight various features. Although this product is less critical with respect to severe storm assessment than other radar data, echo tops and their temporal trends can give forecasters a quick look at those storms and locations containing the highest and/or growing tops of storms.

In this image, several supercell thunderstorms were located over central Kentucky on March 2, 2012. The green (orange/yellow) colors represent echo tops ranging from 30,000-40,000 ft (40,000-50,000 ft). Lower echo tops are in blue and purple colors.