🚀 go-pugleaf

Here is a letter from Thomas McClure of the Ohio NWS on the use of the marine radar
that was able to see a hook echo.

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Hello Matt,

I thought i'd send ya a email and let you and anyone who might be
interested in the details of the chase.

Last night Ohio had some severe storms move across the area. After
quickly setting up the radar into my chase car we headed out for Morrow
County at first. During this part of the chase we were able to zero in
on some large cells. On the readout screen is a large green line that
displays which way the front of the radar is facing, As you turn on a
different road the readout will correct to show the "true" bearing of
any storms in your 24 mile radius. It was very helpful for keeping on
the tail of these storm cells due they were moving at a pretty good rate
of speed. This first part of the chase thanks to the radar provided our
team a spectacular view of an impressive lightning display, also
captured on VHS tape. With the passing of the next few hours the storms
started to move out of our chase range so we headed back to home base to
view the regional radar. It showed another line of strong storms moving
to the south of us. At first we thought we couldnt catch them due to
their speed. We started out just to see if we could atleast view some CG
action. On the way we remembered route 23 south, this route would put us
in a great intercept location with the way the storms were tracking if
we followed it for about 45 minutes south. So being the driver I headed
route 23 south. About 60 minutes down this state route we started to get
returns on the radar. We could also see the lightning in the distance.
Because the signal return on this storm cell was the best one we had
since we started the test we went after it. Again some really impressive
lightning displays also captured on VHS tape. It started to get to the
point of the chase were I was about to turn around and head home, All of
us were tired and had to work but the member of my team who was trying
some of the radar's filters and settings, My eye caught a glipse of a
hook. I quickly pulled off the road so I could look at it again. He set
the unit back to where it was when I saw the hook and it again
reappeared on the screen. Outside the storm was really beating on us. We
stared at the screen for about 30 seconds before we desided to
investigate it closer, Being dark outside it was a little scarey at
first. I kept driving in closer, the radar still showing the hook. Once
we were at a distance of 4 miles we got a view of it between lightning
strikes. It was more rope like but definatley a well defined vortex. Now
seeing it we did not continue to follow it. We noted the signature in
our log and returned home.

My opinion on this unit:

It has definetly proven very useful. Even in extream terrain like we
have here in ohio, It still has a very important use and should be
considered by all serious chasers. We did encounter the loss of signals
going into hilly and metro areas. The best way we've found to help
iliminate the total loss of signal is to set the radar trail to "long"
when entering this type of terrain. The disadvantages we have found to a
"long" trail is the unit will not update quickly to vehicle changes in
bearing. This type of trail is best used in steady course headings and
stationary viewing.

The unit has tons of settings which can be changed for different
results. The best thing to do if you buy one is to test it a few times
before you chase a serious storm. Make sure you know how to use it
first. For us it only took about 2 or 3 hours to learn it.

The unit installs quickly, There are no complicated hookups. One cord
runs from the raydome to the display unit. then the other cord is your
power. That it, thats all there is to hooking it up. To make it easier
for vehicle installation... Get a "rain drip luggage rack" get one that
has two adjustable bars. Set them to the desired width. Next use the
template to make a metal plate. Bolt it down so that the luggage rack is
one solid piece. After this is done the radar should bolt to the metal
plate connecting the two rain drip rods. This makes it easy to switch
between cars for fast deployment. the whole rack can be bought for aprox
$30 to $40.

But in summary, This unit is a very useful tool but should not be used
as a sole sorce for storm data. It can miss some stuff which could be
potenially dangerous. The hook echo which we found was total luck, We
were in a very hilly area when we found it. The car was on top of a
large hill when it located the hook. every time we went into the valleys
we would momentarily lose the contact.

If you have any questions feel free to send me an email!

Director Thomas McClure
National Severe Weather Research Teams