NWS Louisville Doppler Radar Enhanced Echo Tops

Cold Front Moving Through the Northeast U.S. Monday; Atmospheric River to Impact the Pacific Northwest Midweek

A cold front will cross the Great Lakes and Northeast U.S. through Monday with gusty winds and areas of rain showers. A strong atmospheric river is expected to move into the Pacific Northwest by midweek bringing a threat for moderate to heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and mountain snows for parts of Washington, Oregon, northern California, and the Sierra 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.