History:
WTOC TV is the only station in Savannah owning a live Doppler weather radar. Shortly after the passage of hurricane “David” in 1979, the station purchased its first radar, an “AVQ-10” and was located at the 185 foot level of their studio tower at 516 Abercorn street. This provided instant displays of rain and thunderstorms to the viewers watching WTOC. The radar was replaced in 1984 with the new Doppler radar technology; a Collins Doprad 32 from
Advanced Designs Corporation.
As technology advanced, so has our radar. It has undergone extensive upgrading in 1989 (to Doprad II), in 1998 (to Doprad III) and then in 2003 with a new 160 foot tower and 72 inch parabolic dish antenna at our present location off I-16 at Chatham parkway.
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This radar will depict light to significant precipitation out to beyond 200 miles along with nighttime thermal inversions. Normally, under
a clear sky at night with high moisture content, strong thermal inversions will develop that would appear to look like rain echoes. These
inversion show up as false echoes and usually develop over the land aligned parallel to the coast
and near the major rivers.
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