Shallotte Doppler Radar site undergoes repairs

SHALLOTTE, NC (WWAY)– Some heavy lifting on the National Weather Service’s Doppler Radar site in Shallotte took place on Friday morning as part of a major repair project in the coming week.   

“We’re so excited today, a big-time enhancement to the radar with the new pedestal being installed. They’re typically designed for about 25 years, and our radar pedestal life is past that time frame, so we finally have a new one in place,” said Steven Pfaff, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Wilmington.  

The pedestal is one of the most critical pieces of the radar. It supports the rotating beam that scans what’s going on in the sky.   

“The pedestal drives the antenna. The antenna is what gathers the meteorological information from the radar. So, thunderstorms, hurricanes, nor’easters, just areas of rain, you name it. The wide variety of weather that we get, this is a big piece of the puzzle which helps us assess what’s going on and issue critical warnings for public safety,” said Pfaff.  

The site will be down for approximately two weeks.  

Although this leaves the area without a functioning radar, the NWS and crews say scheduling the replacement for now is in the best interest of the community, due to the lack of severe weather this time of year.   

“The biggest benefit to replacing this pedestal is that we were able to plan it. As opposed to if one of the components went out, the down time would be about the same, but it would be an emergency situation. So, you’d have to scramble to get a team together and get all the parts,” said Electrical Technician with the National Weather Service of Wilmington, Chris McDermott.   

In the meantime, while KLTX is down, several adjacent radars are available from Columbia, Charleston, Morehead City, and Raleigh to help us stay up to date with your local weather.  

The pedestal replacement will keep our local radar functioning properly for at least another 20 years. 

This is the third major project of the NEXRAD Service Life Extension Program, which is conducting upgrades to radar sites nationwide.