NEW BRUNSWICK — Rutgers University will be home to the most powerful weather radar system in the tri-state area via a partnership with New York’s NBC 4 station and Telemundo 47, the station announced Thursday.
The new StormTracker 4, powered by one million watts of the “latest, most cutting edge technology,” will be stationed on the university’s Cook Campus but owned and maintained by the station. The radar can generate 1,000 pulses within the blink of human eye and has a range of 50,000 square miles, according to the station.
NBC says the radar will track storms in real time directly from ground level, providing greater insight on water droplets, hail, sleet, and approaching snow. It can even analyze weather data for a precise street location, according to the station.
“There is nothing like StormTracker 4,” said Janice Huff, the station’s chief meteorologist.
NBC 4 previously used data from the National Weather Service. The new data will offer an important window into the formation of powerful and dangerous weather systems and should provide local residents with extra time to prepare when bad weather looms, Huff said.
The radar system will be based at Rutgers, which has the state’s only meteorology program that meets federal standards, so the university can conduct further analysis of the data it collects.
Rutgers’ meteorology students will have access to the radar imagery to examine it and develop a long-term analysis of climate trends and weather patterns. It will also be used in weather broadcasts produced by RU-TV, the student television station, according to the university.
“We’re excited to give our meteorology students the opportunity to observe the weather as it is developing,” said Anthony J. Broccoli, chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers.
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