Met Office working to get weather radar up and running again

The Meteorological Office is still repairing its Doppler weather radar station in Brasso Venado, which has not worked properly since 2019.

Chief climatologist Kenneth Kerr gave the update on Wednesday during a virtual 2022 World Meteorological Day webinar.

The radar gives real-time weather data to the east especially during the hurricane season.

Kerr said, “The Met Office, like all the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, misses the radar significantly for our nowcasting.

“This is a very critical tool and we are doing everything that is possible to get the radar back up and working.”

He explained the “complex” radar system has been operating daily all year round, which made it prone to wear and tear. It is over ten years old.

Despite constant maintenance, Kerr said, it was only inevitable that at some point in time the radar’s system would be comprised due to its constant operation.

He also pointed out it was not the first time the radar had malfunctioned.

When it comes to solving the problem, Kerr said, “You do not find a radar sitting on a shelf like a book bag anywhere on the globe.

“When you get this radar, sometimes the company that manufacture the equipment is not manufacturing that particular radar any more. So when you need a part, it means that you have to go and rebuild that particular part, because technology is constantly changing.”

He said getting the radar fully functioning has been costly but the office is aiming to have it working by the start of the Atlantic hurricane season in June.