Widespread High Wind Event; Heavy Snow Expected from the Northern Plains to Northeast

Widespread high winds will continue to impact the interior Northwest, northern Plains, and Upper Midwest. Gusty winds and low relative humidity will bring critical fire weather to the central and southern Plains and south coastal Texas today. A storm tracking across the northern Plains, Great Lakes and into the Northeast U.S. will bring heavy snow and gusty winds into Saturday. Read More >

The Doppler weather radar used by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Marquette (MQT) will be out of service for approximately four days beginning Monday, October 3, 2016, for technicians to install an important technological upgrade.

During the outage, radar coverage is available from adjacent radar sites including Duluth, MN (DLH), Green Bay, WI (GRB), and Gaylord, MI (APX).

A crew will install a new signal processor, which replaces obsolete technology, improves processing speed and data quality, provides added functionality, and supports IT security.

This is the first of four major upgrades, known as service life extension projects, planned in the next five years to replace and refurbish major components of the 20 year old WSR-88Ds and to keep the radars operational into the 2030s. The $150M investment is being made by the three organizations that use these radars, the NOAA National Weather Service, United States Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration. The other service life extension projects include refurbishing the transmitter, pedestal, and equipment shelters.

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