The Cayman Islands National Weather Service’s Doppler radar is back online after being out of service for nine months, but more repairs need to be carried out on the radar’s dome.
A joint statement, issued by the CINWS and the Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency, confirmed that the Kearney Gomez weather radar was “restored to full working order” on Thursday, 14 July, by experts from German-based company LEONARDO.
The radar went offline on 21 Oct. last year following the passage of Tropical Storm Grace. Initial attempts to repair the radar were marred by a lack of funding and supply chain issues caused by COVID-19.
“LEONARDO is the only company in the world that can provide the services and expertise necessary to restore our radar service and I’m pleased to report we were able to facilitate this visit and get the radar back up and running,” said CINWS Director General John Tibbetts.
“I want to thank the Cayman Islands public for your continued patience as the Weather Service has worked to restore radar service,” Chief Officer Jennifer Ahearn said in a statement.
She added, “I know it will be a relief to many in our community that they can once again view real-time radar images online. Throughout this process, our meteorologists have continued to provide forecasts for the Cayman Islands and I am pleased they will once again be able to use the radar in support of these efforts.”
The radar is used to detect moisture and water droplets up to 250 miles from the Cayman Islands, and has been praised as an important tool in tracking storm activity during the Atlantic Hurricane Season.
Although the weather radar is now operational, more work needs to be done to repair the dome which houses the weather instruments. The dome was damaged in Tropical Storm Grace.
“We recognise the significant public interest in the status of the weather radar service and will continue to provide updates on the status of the dome repairs and dehumidifier installation over the coming weeks,” said Ahearn.
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One would think that the repairs to the dome should have been done before the Radar was repaired, Just sayin’