What is a weather radar and how does it help with weather forecasting?

Environment Canada operates 4 radar sites in our province of BC, with a total of 31 sites across the country.

The only radar in the BC Southern Interior is located at the top of Silver Star Mountain. For those of you who have biked or skied there, you may have noticed the giant white ball at the top of the Comet chairlift!

Prince George, Aldergrove, and Victoria are the homes to the other 3 British Columbia radar sites.

The radar is a very useful tool for meteorologists and it is used for: 💦Determining the type of precipitation that is falling (rain vs snow vs hail) ❄️ Tracking storms and calculating intensity ⛈Seeing how fast a storm is coming in.

Each radar sends out a pulse of electromagnetic energy. When that piece of energy interacts with something in the atmosphere (whether it is a raindrop, a snowflake, a hailstone, or a bird), it will bounce the energy back to the weather radar. This is how the radar senses what is surrounding the area.

June is typically the wettest month of the year in Kelowna so it is a busy time of year for the weather radar!


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