Lee County to install first weather radar to spot tornadoes and storms faster across SW Florida

Lee County is set to install its first weather radar, a multimillion-dollar system that will improve storm detection and emergency response across Southwest Florida. “This is the first system we're bringing to the state of Florida,” said Tara Goode of Climavision, the company partnering with Lee County on the project. For years, the county has relied on the National Weather Service radar in Tampa, which has left blind spots in storm tracking due to its distance from the area. “Their ability to see the weather here in Southwest Florida was restricted by the distance from the radar. And one of the solutions to that is installing these gap-filling radars,” said Benjamin Abes, Lee County’s director of public safety. The new radar will detect tornadoes, heavy rainfall, and hail, providing agencies with critical data to respond and declare emergencies, especially during hurricane season. “This radar is going to help visualize those and actual data, so that people like the National Weather Service, who get our data and their warning platforms, can make a decision on it,” Goode said. The radar will be installed on the roof of Lee County’s Public Safety Center in partnership with Climavision. With assistance from NOAA, Climavision will cover the costs of the radar, its setup, and maintenance. “It will just hopefully allow us again to see more of the thunderstorm and make earlier determinations for severe thunderstorm warnings or tornado warnings,” said Jennifer Hubbard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The radar is expected to be installed in the next few days and operational within a few weeks. DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.