NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Two congressmen are introducing a bill to help fill radar gaps in rural America.

The bill, called the Rural Weather Monitoring Systems Act, is being cosponsored by Congressman Eric Sorensen (D-Illinois) and Congressman Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas).

Moran represents East Texas, which is located near a radar gap. He said filling these gaps will save lives.

"We wanted to refile our stand-alone bill to reemphasize the fact that rural America cannot be left behind and that we've got to identify these gaps in our radar systems," said Moran. "We've got to be able to fill those gaps so that we have timely, appropriate and accurate information about weather systems that may affect our property or our lives," said Moran.

The Rural Weather Monitoring Systems Act is a reintroduction of the 2023 Weather Act Reauthorization. Moran said he wanted to reintroduce it as a stand-alone bill to emphasize its importance.

Why is filling radar gaps so important?

The News 2 Weather Authority team utilizes five radars to help track weather in Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky. The radars are located in Nashville, Hopkinsville, Memphis, Morristown, and Huntsville.

In the graphic above, each radar is surrounded by a circle that has a radius of 50 miles. At 50 miles away from the radar, the radar beam is about 3,500 feet off the ground. This is because the radar beam is tilted at a 0.5° angle, so the further you get from the radar, the higher up the beam.

The beam height is important for detecting the low-level rotation associated with tornadoes. Once you are more than 50 miles from the nearest radar, it becomes more difficult to see those low-level rotations.

Here in Middle Tennessee, the largest cities are located close enough to a radar, so the beam height is relatively close to the ground.

However, this is not the case for some rural towns and cities in the News 2's viewing area.

There aren't any details yet about where the Rural Weather Monitoring Systems Act would install additional radars if it gets passed, but a few locations in Middle Tennessee could be good candidates.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/bill-introduced-to-fill-weather-radar-gaps-heres-where-it-could-help-in-middle-tennessee/