Baron Installs 1 Megawatt Radar For WAFF

Weather technology company Baron Services has installed a 1 million watt C-Band Doppler weather radar for Raycom Media’s NBC affiliate WAFF Huntsville, Ala. (DMA 80).

An EF-5 tornado destroyed WAFF’s radar on April 27, 2011, during an unprecedented outbreak in North Alabama in which more than 60 tornadoes touched down. The new radar will interface with the station’s Baron FasTrac system for street-level storm tracking and real-time weather analysis.

“The tornadoes on April 27 were indiscriminant in their damage paths, and WAFF 48’s radar was destroyed along with neighborhoods, churches and businesses in that area. We were proud to have been chosen to build them a powerful new radar to enhance their weather department,” said Bob Baron, president-CEO, Baron Services.

“The safety of the people of the Tennessee Valley has always been the top priority at WAFF48,” said WAFF Chief Meteorologist Brad Travis. “April 27 was a tragic reminder of the incredible power of severe weather. The addition of this amazing weather tracking tool allows us to give our viewers even more advanced warning to keep them safe with the storms roll in.”

WAFF’s new VHDD-1000C radar from Baron can see storms farther away, and are therefore able to provide viewers with earlier warning of significant weather threats. The increased transmission strength also allows the radar to obtain higher-resolution data for both precipitation and winds, so WAFF’s meteorologists can analyze storms and winter weather systems in much better detail than previously available, according to Baron.