HAMMOND, La. — With severe weather in Wednesday’s forecast, people in Southeast Louisiana will turn to the experts for their answers.
“With this being our first significant weather event in Southeast Louisiana, we definitely need this radar in place,” WWL Louisiana Chief Meteorologist Chris Franklin said.
The radar is about to be put to the test at its new location in Hammond for the first time.
“This really will be the first, you know, big event, big test, that we’re going to see,” Meteorologist Lauren Nash said.
For almost three decades, local meteorologists used the National Weather Service’s radar in Slidell. In November, that radar moved to Hammond.
“Moving it a little bit farther west, we're able to see, you know, farther down in the atmosphere, really,” Nash said.
It’s been up and running since March, but on Wednesday, lives will depend on its data for the first time.
“We could make do with the overlapping radars in Mobile, Lake Charles and Jackson, but you needed that more high-definition data to analyze the storms to issue warnings,” WWL Louisiana Chief Meteorologist Chris Franklin said.
The move to Tangipahoa Parish allows the radar to tilt lower to the ground, making things like tornadoes easier to detect.
“So we're going to get a sampling of the storms earlier,” Franklin said. We'll analyze them better and for a longer period before they get to the river parishes, the Bayou Parishes, and the North Shore.”
With potential tornadoes, hail, and high wind possible on Wednesday, exercising caution is the best way to stay safe.
“You do not want to be out and about during this time when the storms are rolling on through,” Franklin said.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.