WSI-Weather Central

Dual polarization, or dual-pol, radar is changing forecasting. With the dual-pol data, TV meteorologists can do things they couldn’t do before — distinguish among rain, snow and hail in a storm; analyze wind shear to determine where a tornado may appear and how it may move; determine the size and shape of rain drops that helps in predicting flash flooding; and “see” the tornadic debris signature that says that a funnel cloud has actually touched down. However, station forecasters need to get educated in how to accurately analyze and interpret this new data. This is the third part of TVN’s Severe Weather special report. You can read the other parts here.