NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The radar is one of the most important tools that meteorologists use to track and help forecast the weather.
The radar is shown during nearly every forecast by the News 2 Weather Authority Team and is crucial during severe weather coverage. Knowing how to read the radar can save your life when weather gets dangerous.
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The radar has a lot of uses, but there are three primary products used by the News 2 Weather Authority Team: reflectivity, velocity, and correlation coefficient.
Reflectivity is the most commonly used radar product, and is what most people first think of. The reflectivity shows where it’s raining and how heavy it is. This is what you will typically see on most weather apps, including the WKRN Weather Authority App. This is also what you will see on the interactive radar on wkrn.com.
Reading the reflectivity is pretty simple. For rainfall, the brighter the colors, the heavier the rain. On the Storm Tracker Radar Network, the WKRN Weather Authority App, and wkrn.com, the light rain will be green, and the heavier rain will span from yellow to orange to red and even pink or white for the heaviest downpours.
FORECAST: Middle Tennessee & Southern KentuckyWeather
Meteorologists use reflectivity to forecast where rain will occur in the immediate future. The radar in motion can show the speed and direction that the rain showers/thunderstorms are moving.
In the winter, you will see shades of blue that indicate snowfall. Light blue indicates light snow and dark blue is heavy snow. Meanwhile, shades of pink/purple indicate a mix of rain/snow, sleet, or freezing rain…