Would you believe it if someone came up to you and said, "Radar can show other things aside from weather?" Well, it is true. Ground clutter is often sensed, and this type of clutter can come in the form of bugs, birds, cars, smoke, etc. Take a look at the images to the left. The top image shows an unaltered radar frame, and it looks like storms are in the area. However, looking at the image below, most of those areas are simply wind farms (highlighted in orange). You can also see traffic along some of the interstates (which are green lines). So, how does this happen? When atmospheric conditions are very stable, the radar beam can get bent toward the ground, and this causes the beam to sense things that are unrelated to weather. For more information about these pictures, please visit http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=lot&storyid=85275&source=0.
Justin Pletsch
WTVO Weather Intern
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