The upgrade of the Harku weather radar, located just outside Tallinn, began in September. The new radar tower stands 36 meters tall, 16 meters taller than the previous one. It features a protective dome atop a metal lattice structure, with the radar located inside the dome.

The upgrade of the Harku weather radar just outside of Tallinn began in September. The new radar tower is 36 meters tall, outgrowing the previous tower by 16 meters. It consists of a protective dome on top of a metal lattice tower – and the radar itself is located inside the dome.

"The new radar is more sensitive to precipitation signals," explained Svetlana Pudova, a meteorologist at the Environment Agency. "Even developing rainclouds send signals already, which is very useful for meteorologists to know early on. Based on the data, they can decide whether to adjust the forecast or issue a warning for a particular weather phenomenon."

The radar also indicates the intensity of precipitation – the brighter the color, the stronger the precipitation.

EWS' maps also display forecasts for cloud movement over time, updating every five minutes.

The new Harku weather radar is impacted by a wind farm located in Paldiski.

"It does have an impact," Pudova acknowledged. "And we have to account for that. We can eliminate [the impact] to a certain extent, but it's a bit risky – we may end up eliminating too much."

Lines appearing on the map don't indicate clouds; they represent disturbances caused by the wind turbines.

EWS operates two weather radars in Estonia – the other is located in Sürgavere, north of Viljandi.

Data from the newly operational weather radar at Harku has been contributing to the information displayed on the EWS website and its weather app ILM+ since Friday.

Dynamic weather maps are quite the hit, too – the Estonian weather app has 80,000 followers.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!