Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SOUTH BEND - Northeastern Indiana finally will have its own high-tech weather radar tower.
The $6 million NEXRAD project, which includes Doppler radar equipment, a new office and an expanded forecasting staff, will be up and running near North Webster by next summer.
The NEXRAD site will be at the intersection of Ind. 13 and CR 850N, near a Department of Natural Resources maintenance shed.
The site selection ended a stateline tug-of-war over the best placement of the National Weather Service system. The flap over the NEXRAD location became political in June when 4th District Rep. Mark Souder, of Fort Wayne, charged that placing the station in the district of Rep. Tim Roemer would help Roemer's re-election effort.
Elbert W. Friday, National Weather Service director, said the North Webster site was chosen because it provides "optimum" conditions and "would have virtually no obstructions for radar beams. ..."
The radar system will provide warnings for violent thunderstorms and sudden tornadoes that frequently hit northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio.
"The NEXRAD radar location is ideal for the city of Warsaw because it is just far enough away that we'll get complete and adequate coverage," Warsaw Mayor Jeff Plank said today.
The site has the added advantage of being able to forecast snowstorms that develop over Lake Michigan and strike the South Bend area.
The NEXRAD location was announced Tuesday by Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., who lobbied for more than a year to get the radar system placed near South Bend.
"The NEXRAD radar location is ideal for the city of Warsaw because it is just far enough away that we'll get complete and adequate coverage," Warsaw Mayor Jeff Plank said today.
The site has the added advantage of being able to forecast snowstorms that develop over Lake Michigan and strike the South Bend area.
The NEXRAD location was announced Tuesday by Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., who lobbied for more than a year to get the radar system placed near South Bend.
Lawmakers from Ohio had pressed for a location 70 miles away, near Fort Wayne, to better provide forecasts on which farmers in western Ohio rely. Ohioans gathered 120,000 signatures on a petition seeking placement as close as possible to the state line.
The Weather Service looked for a middle ground, and apparently found it about 36 miles from South Bend. The agency plans to break ground at the site in May, said Roemer, D-South Bend.
The radar will be delivered in mid-June and hooked up to a temporary trailer so it can start working right away, Roemer said. The NEXRAD radar will be attached to a permanent facility by June 1998, he said.
"... They have determined that this site will best provide coverage for dangerous weather such as lake effect snow and tornado episodes," Roemer said.
Coats issued a news release Tuesday praising the chosen site, two miles north of North Webster, declaring, "This is a great day for Hoosier safety."
Also pleased was Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Monticello. People in northern Indiana for years have been vulnerable to undetected tornadoes and other severe weather, Buyer said.
"With the selection process complete, we can now move quickly to provide adequate weather coverage to people who live in northern Indiana," he said.
Eventually, more than 20 weather service employees will man the station, replacing the six stationed at the current Fort Wayne office.
Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio, who had been at the forefront of the put-it-closer-to-Ohio lobbying, also praised the decision.
Emergency management services directors in the counties bordering Indiana all agreed that the Weather Service's choice "is in compliance with the safety needs of their counties," he said.
