ULM holds groundbreaking for Doppler radar system
The one constant about weather in Louisiana is there is no constant.
As the saying goes, if you don’t like the day’s weather give it a minute and it’ll change.
Now when it does change, area residents will have a better idea of what’s in store.
The University of Louisiana at Monroe held a ceremonial groundbreaking Wednesday afternoon for a new state-of-the-art Doppler radar. The $3 million project was funded by the Louisiana Governors Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
Enterprise Electronics Corp. is building the radar system off site and plans to deliver it to ULM in the fall.
“I feel like I can speak for everyone involved where there were times that it felt like we were just pursuing more meetings instead of a Doppler,” GOHSEP assistant deputy directory Casey Tingle. “Fortunately those meetings led to fewer meetings, and now we’re shoveling dirt.”
On top of being the only university in the state that offers an atmospheric science program, ULM can now offer students hands-on training with the Doppler radar.
ULM also will add a radar meteorology class to the atmospheric science curriculum.
“They’ll get the chance to learn to operate the radar, analyze the data and learn to forecast,” said Anne Case Hanks, the coordinator of ULM’s atmospheric science program.
“This sets them apart in the long run from other schools that don’t provide this kind of opportunity.”
ULM isn’t the only one that stands to reap the benefits of the Doppler. The radar system is also available to GOHSEP, National Weather Service and the region’s various media outlets.
“There are two National Weather Service radars in Shreveport and Jackson [Mississippi], and by the time it gets to the Monroe region we can only see the upper part of the atmosphere,” Hanks said. “By putting a radar in Monroe, we’ll actually be able to see what’s happening closer to the surface, which means better coverage, better data and hopefully better warning times when severe weather occurs.”
Tingle said it makes the GOHSEP’s job easier given the tornadoes, ice storms and other severe weather that has cropped up within the region in the last few years.
“The gamut has come this way in this corner of the state, and this information will allow emergency managers to provide additional guidance to government officials when they have to make decisions,” Tingle said.
The Doppler will serve 12 different parishes in northeastern Louisiana.
Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo — back in town from Northern Exposure in Baton Rouge — ULM President Nick Bruno and students in the atmospheric science program were among those who did the shoveling honors at the groundbreaking.
Professor emeritus Lynn LeBlanc, the founder of the atmospheric sciences program, was also honored during the ceremony by ULM Vice President of Academic Affairs Eric Pani.