How storm tracking technology helps keep people safer during severe weather
MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Following destructive storms in the Tennessee Valley on May 20, a lot of damage was left behind, but advances in technology are helping to make sure people have plenty of warning before storms arrive.
Long before emergency sirens go off, experts have been working to figure out how bad the weather is going to be.
'Days in advance we will be producing a forecast, working closely with the Storm Prediction Center,' said National Weather Service Huntsville Meteorologist Dan Dixon.
Once the storm develops, the National Weather Service uses Doppler Radar and satellite data to track the intensity of the system and then sends word out about potential dangers.
'Once a warning has been issued,' Dixon said. 'It's a matter of communicating the warning to the public.'
Meanwhile, News 19's meteorologists are tracking the storm on-air.
'We use dual-polarization radar now, which transmits and receives pulses in the horizontal in the vertical direction,' said News 19 Certified Chief Meteorologist Danielle Dozier. 'That allows us to see the sizes and shapes of particles that are in the atmosphere and debris that's being lofted by that tornado. So in real time, we're essentially able to see a tornado happening '
The technology didn't exist 20 years ago, but now, that real-time picture of a storm's intensity offers vitally important minutes for people to seek shelter.
Before a dangerous storm struck Killingsworth Cove Tuesday, families made their way to community storm shelters.
'I can say with my 25 years of experience that we would have not only lost lives, but entire families if these storm shelters weren't available,' said Killingsworth Cove Volunteer Fire Department Captain Nathan Aston.
Homes were destroyed in the area, but no lives were lost.
'Allowing them to have adequate time to get to a shelter, if they don't have one that their specific house or location has been a very good thing that we've noticed here over the last few years,' Dixon said.
It's important to make sure you always have multiple ways to receive weather alerts.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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