FIXING THE GAP: How Lee County's new radar will help protect people

LEE COUNTY, Fla — Southwest Florida’s radar gap is getting filled.

So, what is a “radar gap”?

The closest National Weather Service radar is 75 miles to our north, in Ruskin. With a standard radar beam angle of 0.5°, that puts the radar beam 6,600 feet above us, more than one mile. The problem is that severe weather, like tornadoes, is well below that height and cannot be detected by National Weather Service radars.

This is called a radar gap, a dangerous situation that limits National Weather Service meteorologists from seeing potential rotation to issue a tornado warning.

Why filling the gap matters

On January 16 , 2022, a waterspout from the Gulf moved onshore into Iona. What was later determined to be an EF-2 tornado, tracked nearly 8 miles. No warnings were issued.

“While we were getting the alerts from the responders that there was a tornado on the ground, as I was talking to the NWS, and they could not see that on their radar,” explained Benjamin Abes, Director of Public Safety for Lee County.

Abes said that tornado caused more than $10M in damage and damaged more than 200 properties. “That was something that people didn’t know was coming. Because there was no possible way for the NWS to see it from Tampa Bay,” said Abes.

A new radar and better detection

Early detection and warnings are critical to prevent property loss and save lives. That’s why Lee County partnered with Climavision, a Louisville, Kentucky-based company that installs radars across the country where coverage is lacking.

“What we do is we place our weather radars strategically in those gap areas. There are about 200 [gaps] across the country that we’re filling right now,” explained Tara Leigh Goode, Vice President of Partnerships and Radar Operations at Climavision.

This will be Climavision’s 30^th radar installation in the country and the first in Florida.

“Lee County in particular has a bit higher risk because you have a much higher population in that area. One of our radars serves about 60 miles, so it does serve beyond that Lee county range,” said Goode. Because of its coverage, more than Lee County will be covered and benefit of the gap-filling radar.

Where will it go, who's paying for it, and will we have access to it?

The new radar will be placed on top of the new Emergency Operating Center. Its elevation and location far from tall buildings will allow the radar to have a clear view of any weather heading our way. It’s expected to be operational by the end of the year.

Radar data, however, will not be accessible to the public. That data will be used specifically for Emergency Management purposes and shared with the National Weather Service, so that early warnings can be issued. (The National Weather Service issues severe weather warnings, not local Emergency Management.)

Abes told Fox 4 that because this is a public-private partnership, the new radar won’t cost tax payers anything. “So there are no public dollars being used for the project. The reinforcements on the building behind me were all paid for by Climavision. The construction of the platform and radar itself all paid for by Climavision, as well as all of the power consumption it needs,” he said.