WAKEFIELD, Va. — The National Weather Service’s Doppler weather radar serving much of eastern Virginia and portions of Maryland and North Carolina is expected to remain offline through the Independence Day holiday weekend because of a significant mechanical issue.
The National Weather Service announced Thursday afternoon that the Wakefield (KAKQ) NEXRAD Doppler Radar has been taken out of service while technicians work to address the problem.
According to the agency, specialists from the Radar Operations Center in Norman, Oklahoma, are scheduled to arrive next week to diagnose and repair the malfunction. No estimate has been provided for when the radar will return to service.
Although the outage temporarily removes one of the region’s primary weather monitoring tools, forecasters emphasized that weather surveillance will continue using data from surrounding NEXRAD radar sites. Those include radar installations in Sterling, Virginia; Dover, Delaware; Morehead City and Raleigh, North Carolina; and Blacksburg, Virginia.
The Wakefield radar is a critical component of the National Weather Service’s ability to monitor severe thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, tornadoes and other hazardous weather across eastern Virginia, including the Eastern Shore, Hampton Roads and the Richmond area.
Meteorologists will continue issuing forecasts, watches and warnings during the outage using information from neighboring radars, satellites, surface observations and other weather monitoring systems. However, radar coverage at lower elevations and farther from adjacent radar sites may be somewhat reduced until the Wakefield system returns to operation.
With thunderstorms common during the summer months, residents are encouraged to remain weather aware throughout the holiday weekend by monitoring forecasts and signing up for local emergency alerts. Forecasters also recommend having multiple ways to receive weather warnings, particularly during overnight hours.
The National Weather Service said additional updates will be provided as repair efforts progress.
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