NPOL Radar Science Log CAMEX/KAMP Experiment Naval Air Station, Boca Chica Key, Florida August - September, 2001 Note: 1200 UTC = 0800 Local Time 1800 UTC = 1400 Local Time 0000 UTC = 2000 Local Time 0600 UTC = 0200 Local Time 8/18/01 VAC 1600UTC Few scattered clouds, mostly clear Winds: S, SE 1700UTC Line of clouds building across northern half of sky. This line is not very deep. Southern sky is mostly clear with a few clouds building far off due south of here. Winds: SE 1800 UTC Line of clouds becoming more continuous to the north, but still not very deep. The clouds to the northwest appear to be growing. The radar is showing some non-meteorological features moving toward the north. The real weather is generally moving toward the NW. Winds: SE 1900 UTC Line to the north breaking up, but cell to the NW still apparent. Winds: SE 2016 UTC ER-2 DC-8 fly over cell to the west. 2100 UTC Everything to the north has basically disappeared. Otherwise clear with small puff clouds all around us. Winds: SE 8/19/01 VAC 1500 UTC Small low clouds all around and above site. Humid. Winds: light, SE 1600 UTC Mostly clear, small clouds all around. The N half of the sky has larger number of clouds than southern half. Winds: stronger, SE 1700 UTC Clear directly overhead. One cell to the south is gaining some height, as are a couple cells to the north and northwest. Winds: light SE 1800 UTC Small cell to the north, otherwise only small clouds all around. Winds: light SE 2000 UTC A few small to medium sized clouds to the north, otherwise the sky is clear with only a few high feathery clouds overhead. Winds: SE 2100 UTC Same conditions, nothing on radar of any value to us. 2200 UTC Line of clouds that had been to the north of us has moved much closer, but still is just barely north of us. The rest of the sky is clear. Nothing on radar. Winds: light, SE 8/20/01 VAC 1100 UTC Thin high cirrus covers most of sky. Winds: calm 1200 UTC Western sky is mostly clear, eastern sky still is mostly occupied by thin high cirrus. Winds: calm 1300 UTC Cirrus clouds are still covering the eastern half of the sky, but there are fewer of them than before. Winds have picked up a little. Winds: light, SSE 1400 UTC Sky is basically clear. Cirrus clouds have diminished for the most part, but still a few left overhead and to the east. Small cumulus clouds are forming, especially to the north. Winds: light, SSE 1500 UTC Sky is clear to the south. To the north, more cumulus clouds are forming and growing larger. A few small cells are located in the NW quadrant on radar. Winds: light, E 1600 UTC Conditions are pretty much the same as they were at 1500. Winds: light, E 1700 UTC High clouds have moved in from the south and cover the southern 2/3 of the sky. A couple cumulus clouds have reached medium height to the NE. Their tops are sharp, so maybe they will continue to grow. In the far distance to NW the cumulus clouds also are gaining depth. Winds: light, ESE 1800 UTC High clouds remain over the southern 2/3 of the sky. The largest cell out there now is fairly close to us to the NE. It's hard to tell because of the trees, but it appears that it may be dumping some rain. Another slightly weaker cell lies to the N, and another one is to the NW, but it is further away. Winds: light, SE 2000 UTC High clouds cover majority of sky, just a few holes here and there. There's a cell just to our NW and another one to our NE. In the distance to the north is another cell. The one to the NW is very close to being on top of us and extends off a ways to the NW. Winds: very light, variable 2100 UTC The high clouds have thinned out, especially to the north and overhead. Medium sized cumulus exist to the NE, N, and NW, off in the distance. The cloud that had been close to us on the NW side has dissipated, as has the one on the NE side. Winds: very light, variable 2200 UTC High clouds are just about gone except for some in the SW quadrant. All that is left of the earlier clouds are a few small cumulus, mostly in the northern half of the sky. There are big storms in the tip of Florida right now with dBz's up in the 60's (see RHI's). Winds: very light and variable 8/21/01 DRJ 1400 UTC The sky is overcast with numerous low cumulus clouds. There is an area of dissipating rain moving towards the N-POL site from the south. To the north and northwest are isolated convective showers. Winds: light and variable 1500 UTC The sky is overcast with a few light sprinkles falling over the area. The area of precipitation to the south appears to have dissipated. There are still convective showers in the northwest quadrant, and they seem to be more organized than the previous hour. Most of the rain is beyond 110 km range and moving away from the radar. Winds: light northerly winds 1600 UTC The sky is still overcast, but the layer of the cirrus clouds appears to be thinning. The convective showers in the northwest quadrant have organized into a fairly narrow rain band. To the south, cumulus clouds are present, as well as small echo returns on the RTD. Winds: light and variable 1800 UTC The isolated convective showers to the south two hours ago have developed into a squall line that is moving northward. The orientation of the line is parallel to the Keys. Heavy rain and thunder were present here at N-POL. Winds: gusty during the rain showers; light from the ENE when no rain was falling 1900 UTC The squall line is still present to the north and is moving towards NNW. Ahead of the line are a few isolated echoes. Larger cells are located over the southern portion of the Florida peninsula. To the south, the clouds are beginning to clear as some blue sky is present. TOGA is also collecting data on the squall line. Winds: light and variable 2000 UTC The squall line is still present to the north and is oriented parallel to the Keys. Its length is close to 250 km (although the eastern part of the line goes off the radar display). There are a few very intense cells, and RHIs show echo tops near 55,000 ft! The clouds are dark to the north and rain shafts are present. There are also some low-level cumulus clouds trailing in the rear of the line. Southward, the cirrus deck from earlier times is continuing to dissipate and more blue sky is present. There does seem to be more cumulus clouds growing to the southern quadrants. Winds: light and variable 2100 UTC The real time display shows that the line of storms has a large stratiform region to its rear. Stronger cells are still present along the leading edge. There also seems to be more development of isolated convection to the east of the radar. To the north is a cirrus deck associated with the line of storms. This area is fairly dark and rain shafts are present in the distance. Also present are low-level cumulus and stratocumulus clouds. To the south, there are patches of blue sky, but there seems to be an increase in the amount of cloud cover. Some of the cumulus appear to be deeper than the previous hour. Winds: from N-NW near 10 mph 2200 UTC The line of storms is still propagating to the north and appears to be weakening. The rear portion consists mainly of stratiform- type precipitation. There are a few areas of stronger echoes along the leading edge. To the east of N-POL and behind the line, are isolated convective cells. Outside, the sky is nearly overcast from the cirrus clouds associated with the outflow of the line. There are a few patches of blue sky to the south. Towards the southeast, where the isolated cells are located, cumulus clouds are present. Winds: light from the N-NW. 8/22/01 KLM 0000 UTC Stratiform rain region to the north and stronger convection south of Keys beginning to dissipate. The strongest cells are located about 100 km south of the Keys. Thin layer of cirrus clouds overhead with some cumulus clouds just north of the Keys. Winds are light and variable. 0100 UTC Stratiform rain region north of Keys continues to dissipate as it drifts northeastward while stronger convection 100 to 150 km south of Keys holding together as it moves off to the west. Winds are light and variable. 0200 UTC Convection south of the Keys formed into a broad stratiform rain region which continues to move towards the west. Stratiform rain region north of the Keys completely dissipated now; however, new isolated convective cells forming just north of the dissipated stratiform rain region and is moving south-southeastward. New convection cells southeast of the Keys about 100 to 150 km out moving west. Winds are light and variable. Lightning is visible well off towards the southeast. 0300 UTC Broad stratiform rain region south of the Keys beginning to dissipate. Isolated convective cells continue to develop and dissipate to the north. Isolated cells forming east of the Keys now. Winds remain light and variable. 0400 UTC Weak cells to the southeast and north beginning to slowly dissipate. Winds are calm. 0500 UTC Cells about 50 km towards the southeast moving northwest towards the Keys. Isolated cells north of the Keys drifting southward. Winds are calm. 0600 UTC Cluster of cells off to the southeast beginning to move over the Keys. Currently raining at N-POL. Rain began at 0600 UTC. No other rain showers around. Winds are from the southeast now since an outflow boundary generated by the cluster of cells moved by. 0700 UTC Small stratiform rain region just southeast of the Keys left over from cluster of cells. Rain ended at N-POL around 0645 UTC. Winds calm. 0800 UTC Small stratiform rain region still situated southeast of Keys and is now drifting towards the southeast. Winds remain calm. 0900 UTC Almost no rain on radar screen. Winds are calm. 1000 UTC Isolated cells off towards the east-southeast moving southwestward. Winds remain calm. DRJ 1100 UTC There are mostly cloudy skies with different layers of clouds present. There are high cirrus clouds with a lower stratus cloud deck over all quadrants. Lastly, there are low- level cumulus clouds primarily to the south. There are two small cells to the southeast. Winds: calm 1200 UTC Mostly cloudy skies prevail with different layers and types of clouds present. A high cirrus cloud layer is present mainly to the south. In all quadrants, a layer of stratus- stratocumulus clouds is present. There are low-level cumulus clouds dominant to the south. However, there seems to be isolated growing cumulus to the northwest. The radar shows some isolated showers to the southeast that appear to be weakening. To the northwest are a few isolated convective showers beginning to develop. Winds: calm 1300 UTC The sky is overcast with an upper level cirrus cloud layer. Beneath this cloud layer are patches of stratocumulus clouds in all quadrants. To the north and east, cumulus clouds are beginning to develop and grow. Northwest of the radar, the sky is dark, as radar indicates precipitation for the area. The radar also shows a region of light precipitation to the southeast associated with dissipating convective showers. Northwest of the radar, isolated convective cells are still present. A convective cell has also just developed to the northeast about 40 km away. Winds: light and variable 1400 UTC The sky is overcast with an upper level cloud layer. Beneath this cloud layer are many low level stratocumulus and cumulus clouds. Just off to the N-NE is a rain shaft. The clouds in the NE quadrant appear to have more vertical depth than the clouds in the other three quadrants. Radar shows a couple of isolated convective showers to the northeast around 25-30 km away. The precipitation region to the southeast from earlier times appears to be dissipating, but there are a few isolated convective cells that have developed 50 km away. To the northwest, the convective showers close to the radar are weakening. Winds: light and variable 1500 UTC The sky is overcast in the southern two quadrants with low-level stratocumulus clouds. To the north, there are a few patches a blue sky, but there are many cumulus clouds beneath a cirrus layer. Also, a rain shaft is present to the west. N-POL received rain from 1515-1530. The radar shows a region of dissipating Stratiform rain to the southeast. The northwest sector has many small isolated convective showers. To the east is a small region of developing showers about 10-20 km away. Winds: calm 1600 UTC The skies are mostly cloud with a few patches of blue to the north. The northern two quadrants have growing cumulus clouds. There is a rain shaft to the east and southwest of the radar. Light rain fell for about 10 minutes beginning at 1555. Radar shows a dissipating region of precipitation to the southeast. The northwest quadrant has multiple isolated convective cells. There is also a convective cell to the southwest moving away from the radar. Winds: light from the E-SE 1700 UTC To the south, the sky is overcast with cirrus clouds, and stratus clouds are present in the lower levels. The northern two quadrants are also overcast, but there are patches of blue sky visible. Along the horizon in the two northern quadrants are cumulus clouds, some of which appear to be growing larger. The radar shows multiple isolated convective cells in the northwest quadrant. These cells vary from 50-150 km in range from the radar. Winds: calm 1800 UTC Mostly cloudy skies prevail, although the high cirrus cloud layer is beginning to thin out a little and more areas of blue sky are present. All quadrants still have patches of low-to-mid level stratus-type clouds. The northwest quadrant has cumulus clouds, as well as a cumulonimbus cloud. The radar shows this area to consist of precipitation from the merging of the convective showers from earlier times. There are also isolated convective cells over the southern Florida peninsula beginning to develop. Winds: light from the E-NE 2000 UTC The southern two quadrants are beginning to clear and partly cloudy skies are dominant. There seems to be three distinct layers of clouds to the south. A high level cirrus layer that continues to thin out, a layer of patchy altostratus clouds, and low level small cumulus clouds. The northern quadrants have more clouds. The same layers and types of clouds are present with the addition of deeper looking cumulus clouds to the northeast. Radar shows a dissipating region of precipitation to the west, and convective cells in the southern Florida peninsula. Winds: light and variable 2100 UTC Partly cloudy skies prevail. Most of the high cirrus clouds are gone and mainly altostratus and altocumulus clouds are present over all quadrants. There is a developing convective cell just 10-15 km ENE of the radar site. A rain shaft is also visible. Radar indicates this new cell in addition to southward moving showers over the southern Florida peninsula. To the west, two dissipating regions of stratiform precipitation are present. Winds: light from the NE 2200 UTC Conditions are partly cloudy with mainly cumulus clouds. There are deep cumulonimbus clouds associated with convective showers to the east and southwest. Rain shafts are present outside the radar in both of those directions. There is also a rapidly developing cumulus cloud to the northeast of the radar site. Radar shows many small convective showers developing over the keys and moving to the south-southwest. Winds: light from NE KLM 2300 UTC Partly cloudy with cumulus and cumulus congestus dominating the sky. Raining at N- Pol at the moment with rain showers oriented east to west just south of the Keys. South- southwestern movement of showers. Cirrus clouds off towards the northwest. Winds from the northeast. 8/23/01 0000 UTC Rain showers continue south and east of the keys. Showers generally moving south- southwest still. Winds are calm. 0100 UTC Isolated convective showers off to the southeast. Movement is towards the southwest. Some lightning well off towards the south-southeast. Winds are calm. 0200 UTC Convective cells south of the keys. Movement towards the west-southwest. Winds remain calm. 0300 UTC Convective cells dominate the southern portion of the radar screen with movement generally towards the west-southwest. Winds remain calm. 0400 UTC The cells to the south are beginning to dissipate; however, new cells are firing north of the Keys oriented in a north-south direction with movement towards the south- southwest. Winds are calm. 0500 UTC Cells to the south continue to dissipate. Two distinct but small lines of convective cells have formed to the north. One line oriented northwest to southeast and the other nearly perpendicular to the other oriented northeast to southwest. Both lines have been moving off towards the south-southwest. Winds are light and variable. 0600 UTC Isolated cells mainly west of the Keys. Movement is more to the west now. Winds remain light and variable. 0700 UTC Very few convective cells around. Winds are calm. 0800 UTC Some weak convective cells north of the Keys. Movement is towards the northwest. Winds are light out of the east. 0900 UTC Isolated, small convective cells continue to form and move off to the northwest north of the keys. Winds are light and variable. 1000 UTC Isolated cells north and east of the Keys. Movement towards the west. Winds are light and variable. VAC 1100 UTC One cell way to the east of here, and one way to the north of here. Neither one is very strong. Sky here is mostly clear, with high cirrus to the south and a line of small cumulus oriented SW to NE. Winds: very light, variable 1200 UTC Nothing on radar. There are a few small cumulus to the north, and some more to the west that are a little larger. High cirrus to the south. Otherwise clear sky. Winds: very light, E 1300 UTC A couple blips on radar now in the NW quadrant, perhaps they will grow into something by the afternoon. Due west of here, there is a medium sized cumulus cloud that has grown since 1300, and to the north, there are the small cumulus that are always there. Otherwise, sky is clear. Winds: very light, E 1400 UTC The blips have turned into small cells now, and are mostly confined to the NW quadrant. A couple cells to our north are visible and appear to be growing, and the medium sized cloud to the west is also still apparent. The strongest cell is at 330 deg., 70 km range, and has reflectivities up to ~48 dBz. The cell to the north is at 0 deg, 40 km range, and has reflectivities up to ~42 dBz. Otherwise, sky is clear. Winds: light, E 1500 UTC The cells in the NW quadrant are still growing, but not rapidly. A line of small sized cumulus extends from W to E overhead, and to the N and NNW there are more medium sized cumulus. The largest cloud visible is directly to the N. Sky mostly clear otherwise. Winds: light, E 1600 UTC Cells in NW quadrant are getting larger and starting to come closer together. Main activity is concentrated between 290 deg and 350 degrees. 1700 UTC Can see rain on the runway to the north, will probably be here soon. This rain matches up with a weak cell that is currently over the islands. Sky is mostly overcast overhead and to the north, but still clear further to the south. Most of the activity is still in the NW quadrant, although it does not seem to be strengthening like before. There are a few small weak cells popping up now in the SE quadrant also. Winds: very light, NNW 1800 UTC Showers that came here during the last hour have moved off toward the SE - it's very dark off toward this direction. There are high cirrus clouds directly overhead. To the N, the sky is clearer, especially to the NE. There is a lot of rain areas in the NW quadrant, with one cell that is of decent size. Off in the distance to the NW it is rather dark - perhaps it is raining there. Winds: light and variable 1900 UTC Largest clouds now to the south. Clear overhead. High smooth clouds just a little to the north, clear further to the north past the high clouds. Small cumulus are all around on the horizon. Otherwise, clear skies. Very warm and humid. Winds: very light, SE 2000 UTC Line of small cumulus overhead. Clear to the north and south of this line. More medium and small cumulus in the distance to the south. Warm and humid. Most of the activity on radar has died down now, but there is still one weak area of reflectivities to the west, a stronger one to the southwest out past 100 km range, and a third area of convection over the southern tip of Florida. These cells are not very large. Winds: very light, SE 2100 UTC High clouds to the south. Otherwise, fairly clear with the exception one cumulus cloud cell to the NW that seems to be growing. Less humid now.. Winds: light, SE 2200 UTC Large cell to the NE has gained height since 2100. This may be the cell on the radar to the NE off the Florida coast. This is the main area of interest right now. High clouds to the S. Rest of sky clear. Radar was blasted a couple times during this past hour, resulting in beams of interference. Winds: a little stronger, SE 2225 UTC Cell to the NE was the one from Florida, it is moving toward the Keys and has reflectivities up to 50 dBz. Looks nice from here. 8/24/01 DM 0000 UTC Cell just skirting by the radar to the North and Northwest with maximum reflectivity near 45 dBZ. Strong outflow boundary with gusts near 30 mph whistled through the NPOL antenna. Wall cloud present to NW. Showers surrounding the radar to the East and North. 0045 UTC Cluster of convection to NE near 100 km range with maximum reflectivity near 50 dBZ (at 1.4 elevation). Impressive lightning illuminating mature Cb structure. Cell near radar (mentioned in 0000 UTC ob.) is dissipating. 0142 UTC Strong cells to N and NE from 80-150 km range. Maximum reflectivity from 45-50 dBZ. Cells are dropping to the SSW toward the lower Keys. 0217 UTC Strong cells to North continue to maintain intensity and coverage. Persistent lightning revealing tremendous Cb structure. Cells are oriented E-W and dropping to the S and SW. The closest cells are approx. 70km North of NPOL. X-sections reveal ~35 dBZ extending to height of 11 km. Maximum reflectivity near 50 dBZ. 0310 UTC Cells to North have been gradually diminishing in coverage and intensity and are becoming more disorganized with time. Maximum reflectivity near 48.5 dBZ, while height of ~35 dBZ echo extending to height of 3 km. Range of echo extends from 65-135 km. All significant echo located to North. Lightning display has ended. 0410 UTC Scattered cells to North range from 43 to 135 km distance. Maximum reflectivity approx 45.5 dBZ. Cells moving to S/SW. Echo tops near 8 km altitude. Reflectivity cores extending from 3.5 km to 5.75 km in height. 0520 UTC Scattered cells to North - nothing organized. Cells dissipate and re-form approx 40-130 km North. Maximum reflectivity remains about 45.5 dBZ. Cells are moving to S/SW, but dissipate when approaching Keys. 0551 UTC Isolated small cells have developed to the South. Activity previously mentioned to North is dissipating. 0628 UTC A few scattered cells mainly to the West. A larger cell is located to the NW near 150 km range. 0710 UTC A few scattered cells to the W and NW. Otherwise, very quiet. 0747 UTC A few widely scattered (diminishing) cells to the West. 0836 UTC A few showers and isolated cells to West beyond 150 km range. 0951 UTC No significant echo. Intermittent burst pulse problems have persisted for the past couple hours. 1026 UTC No significant echo. Burst pulse problems continue. VAC 1100 UTC High clouds to the S and E. Normal small clouds all around. Otherwise clear. Winds: calm 1200 UTC Radar not transmitting right now. Same conditions as before. Winds: calm 1300 UTC Cluster of clouds a little south of here has grown to medium size, as has another cluster to the west. High clouds to the south. Otherwise clear. Two tiny cells on radar to the NNE, and one new tiny cell to the ESE. Winds: calm 1400 UTC High clouds to the south, small cumulus clouds all around. Otherwise clear. Three small cells north of here, the closest one is about 60 km away. During the past hour they have had reflectivity values up to ~45 dBz, but not constantly. Winds: very light, E 1500 UTC Same conditions outside. Three small cells at about a 70-90 km range to the north on radar (between 330 and 360 deg.). Winds: very light, E 1600 UTC Same conditions outside. There is one small cell to the NNW on radar, but it is weakening. Winds: very light, E 1730 UTC Line of clouds overhead that look like they may have some rain in them. The length of the line runs from E to W, and is not very wide. High clouds persist to the south, and to the north the sky is clearer. There are a few blips on the radar to the west, but that's it. Winds: light, SE 1738 UTC It is raining lightly. 1800 UTC It is still sprinkling a little. The rain came from a cell that moved down the Keys from east to west. This cell was hard to pick out on radar because it blended in with the clutter, but it had reflectivity values up to 45 dBz. There is more rain visible to the east of here. This rain also shows up on radar. Sky is clearer to the south and west, and blue to the north. Winds: ENE 1900 UTC Rain has stopped. Cell that caused the rain here has moved off to the west and appear to be raining over Key West. From outside, the cell looks very tall and has some crisp looking tops - perhaps it will gain more depth. High clouds still cover the southern sky and medium level clouds lie overhead and to the east. To the north, skies are clearer, with a few small cumulus that tilt SE with height. Winds: SE 2000 UTC Can still see the cell that came through here earlier way off in the distance to the west. Another medium sized cumulus is building to the east, and high clouds are directly overhead. Clear to the north with the exception of a few small cumulus clouds. Winds: light and variable 2100 UTC Can see the remains of that cell from earlier way way off in the distance to the west. High clouds still to the south, clear off to the north Winds: calm 2200 UTC High clouds cover a little more than half of the sky. Mostly clear to the north. Nothing on radar within a 100 km. A few weakening cells on tip of Florida. Winds: very light, E DM 2350 UTC Two isolated cells to NE. One strong cell in southern FL near 150 km range. The other just off the southern tip of FL near 100 km range. Cb present to NE and far West. High clouds overhead with scattered Cu to North. 8/25/01 0120 UTC A few isolated cells over south FL between 100-150 km range. No significant echo within 100 km. 0236 UTC A few isolated cells over south FL between 100-150 km range. No significant echo within 100 km. 0310 UTC Cell with two cores developed to NE near 30 km range. Maximum reflectivity 48 dBZ extending from surface to 3.0 km height. Detectable echo reaches to 12 km height. Cell is stationary. Cells which were previously over south FL have now moved to the West and are between 80 and 125 km NE of NPOL. Maximum reflectivity in these distant cells is approx 50 dBZ. 0340 UTC Cell to NE near 30 km range is now weakening. Maximum reflectivity near 30 dBZ. No movement detected. Cells near south FL maintaining strength with no movement detected. 0450 UTC Cell to NW near 50 km range. Maximum reflectivity near 45 dBZ. No movement detected. Impressive lightning (in-cloud and cloud-to-cloud) visible to North. Cluster of 5 convective cells located just to the West of the southern tip of FL. Cells are oriented N-S. Isolated cells are located near Key Largo beyond 100 km range. 0511 UTC Low elevation stop at -3.2. Scans would not run as scheduled. Per IRIS, volume scan was running, but antenna was not moving. Stopped scheduled scans. Manually brought elevation up with antenna mode in local control and restarted RCP02. Switched antenna mode back to remote. Manually started surveillance scan. Operations appear normal. 0524 UTC Missing burst pulse message. Display appears OK. No further messages. 0545 UTC Cluster of cells to North from 50 to 100 km range. Maximum reflectivities near 50 dBZ in a few pixels. No movement detected, however convective elements dissipate and redevelop. Continuous lightning display to North. 0615 UTC Missing burst pulse - bad scan. Transmitter restarted - system appears okay. 0620 UTC Small cells have recently developed to W and NW from 30-50 km range. Cluster of cells to North are diminishing. 0650 UTC Volume scan stopped prematurely during 29.1 sweep. Mike restarted RCP02 after manually bringing antenna down. Isolated cells to W and NW - nothing organized. Lightning has stopped. 0715 UTC Lost burst pulse. Problem appears to happen only during surveillance scans. 0740 UTC Isolated small cells to W and NW from 40-150 km range. 0740 UTC Lost burst pulse - shutdown IRIS - difficulty restarting IRIS - rebooting system 0901 UTC System up Scattered small cells have developed to N and NW from ranges 40-100 km. 1001 UTC A few showers and small convective cells are present to the NE and NW from 35-125 km range. Maximum reflectivity ~ 45 dBZ. VAC 1115 UTC Cells on radar to the NW appear to be weakening. One tiny cell to the NE. Outside, there is a large cumulus cloud to the west. High clouds lie to the east and north - the ones to the north look a bit like anvil clouds. Otherwise clear. Winds: calm 1200 UTC Large cumulus from 1115 still visible. To the SW a tall, skinny cell is visible. On radar, there is one cell to the WNW, and a bunch of tiny cells in the SW quadrant. High clouds overhead and to the E and N. Otherwise clear. Winds: calm 1300 UTC High clouds cover much of the eastern half of the sky. Can still see cell off to the west, but it is further away. A medium sized cumulus is building to the N. All activity is on the western half of the radar screen, and there isn't anything to get excited about right now. Winds: calm 1400 UTC High clouds to the east, medium sized cumulus to the north and west, and a fairly tall cell way off in the distance to the NW. There is one main cell on radar almost at the edge of our range to the NW. Otherwise clear. Winds: calm 1500 UTC Mostly clear to N and S. Overhead there's a line of medium sized cumulus that stretches from west to east. A few tiny cells on radar to the NW. Winds: very light, S 1524 UTC Light rain shower begins. 1615 UTC Rain has stopped. There are medium sized clouds in a line that begins overhead and stretches off to the E. Clear to the N and S. Mostly cloudy to the E. A few medium sized clouds to the W. Winds: very light, SE 1700 UTC There is a very small but intense cell on radar that appears to be raining due west of here. There is another cell on radar to the NE that is visible outside, but doesn't appear to be raining. A few clouds here and there, but mostly sunny. Winds: very light, S 1820 UTC Just a little bit east of here it is raining. The cloud causing this rain is much taller than most, and is very close. It is practically impossible to pick this cell out on radar because it is small and blends in with the clutter around the Keys. Elsewhere, it is mostly sunny with a few clouds. 1910 UTC The cell from 1820 has moved south and now is much more visible on the radar. A good portion of it is located just south of the Keys, SE of here. It only sprinkled here, even though just down the road to the east it rained fairly hard. A few minutes ago, we saw a few lightning strokes. It is raining to west of us, but not as hard or as close to us as the rain earlier to the east. Cumulonimbus clouds are overhead, and stretch across the sky from west to east. Smaller cumulus clouds mixed with blue sky are located to the north and south of here. Winds: very light, S 1930 UTC Rain begins. Higher tilts that don't have so much ground clutter show there is a cell on top of us and extending to the south. 2000 UTC Raining harder now. Sky is clear way off to the north beyond this cell that is over us. The cell still extends from here on down to the south 2030 UTC Still raining, even harder now, and thundering too. The wooden walkway looks like a dock because there is so much water out there. This cell seems to like it here, and really hasn't moved much in the last thirty minutes. 2045 UTC Rain has stopped. Still raining to the east and south of here, but right now it seems that the rain has finally moved south. A few medium sized cumulus to the north, but rest of sky is clear. 2100 UTC The high clouds extending out from that cell still hang directly overhead and stretch off to the south where the cell now is. It doesn't appear that it is raining as hard to our south and east anymore. On radar, the cell looks smaller than it did previously, and less intense. It is still sitting to the south of us, but it has moved offshore a bit. A few cumulus clouds hang to the north, otherwise sunny. Winds: calm 2200 UTC Basically clear. One area of high clouds remains overhead from the cell earlier. The main area of interest is a tiny, but fast growing cell about 20 km to the WSW. At 2153 the cell was ~8 km tall and had a max reflectivity of 42 dBz. From here, it looks like a tall skinny tower that is still growing. This cell is raining. Winds: calm 2300 UTC Showers off to the southwest moving southward. Small cluster of showers northeast of the Keys moving south of the Florida peninsula. Cumulus congestus visible towards the northwest. Cirrus and precipitating anvil remains from previous convection towards the southwest. Otherwise clear with calm winds. 8/26/01 KLM 0000 UTC Showers to the southwest dissipated now. Cluster of storms off to the northeast holding together and continuing to move to the south. Some cumulus clouds off to the southwest, otherwise clear with calm winds. 0100 UTC Isolated convective showers continue northeast of the Keys moving south. Otherwise clear radar screen. Winds remain calm. 0200 UTC Isolated cells continue northeast of the Keys moving more southwest now. Lightning visible towards the east and northeast over the past hour. Winds are calm. 0300 UTC Two isolated, weak cells east and northeast of N-Pol radar site about 70 km out. Both moving southwestward still. Winds are calm. 0400 UTC One dissipating cell just southeast of N-Pol, otherwise clear radar screen. Winds are calm. 0500 UTC Isolated cell 50 km northeast of N-Pol moving southwest. Winds calm. 0600 UTC Isolated cell 40 km northeast of N-Pol moving southwest. Winds remain calm. 0700 UTC Small cluster of showers northeast of Keys moving southwestward. Max dBz's around 50 and max heights about 12 km. Winds are calm. 0800 UTC More showers beginning to form north and west of Keys. Movement of cells is towards the south-southwest. Winds are calm. 0900 UTC Numerous storms firing along a gust front generated by the convection previously northeast of the Keys. These cells are moving westward along the gust front just north of N-Pol radar site. Other cells continue to develop northwest of the Keys with little movement. Lightning visible to the north-northwest within the past hour. Winds remain calm. 1000 UTC Storms along westward moving gust front just north-northwest of N-Pol dissipating. Cells off to the northwest holding together and drifting southward. Winds are calm. VAC 1100 UTC All cells are in the NW quadrant. The largest one is about 100 km away to the WNW. High clouds cover most of the sky, with the SE quadrant having the most blue sky peaking through. Through a break in the clouds, one of the cells to the NW is visible and appears to have a fair amount of depth to it. Winds: calm 1200 UTC High clouds are dissipating some, especially directly overhead. The larger cell that was to the WNW last hour has broken down, and now the strongest cell is to the NW, about 50 km out from here. This cell is barely visible from here. Beyond it, a line of three cells oriented SE to NW has formed. Winds: calm 1300 UTC High clouds still present, and it is kind of hazy so that there is no real bright blue sky anywhere. The larger cell from 1200 has broken up. Cells have begun springing up in the NE quadrant now as well as in the NW, but they are tiny. Winds: calm 1400 UTC Still hazy all around here, and so it's difficult to see very far into the horizon. There is a medium sized cumulus cloud growing to the east, and in the distance to the northwest a few cloud tops can barely be seen. All the cells to the NW are small and short lived. To the NE, some cells have built up in the area where the Keys meet the mainland and are lasting longer than the ones to the NW. Winds: calm 1500 UTC Still a little hazy, but otherwise clear. Just a few small clouds out there. The cells from earlier are all dying down - there's really nothing of interest on radar. Winds: calm 1600 UTC The only thing on radar is a small cell over the tip of Florida. Still slightly hazy here. A few clouds are scattered all over the sky, but overall it's sunny. Winds: light, N 1700 UTC Same conditions as before, and there's still a small cell over southern Florida. There's a high over the US that has moved toward us some - perhaps this is why the winds have shifted. 1800 UTC Same conditions, though slightly less hazy. 1900 UTC Same conditions basically, but with a few more small clouds to the SE. Still a small cell by the tip of Florida. Winds: very light, N 2010 UTC Sky is clear except to the SE, where a nice cell is building. The cell has two main towers standing side by side. The anvil originates behind the two towers and stretches over them toward us. It seems to be growing larger and has wispy edges. NPOL is doing a sector scan over the cell. Winds: light, N 2030 UTC One of the towers appears to be healthier than the other right now because one of them looks strong while the other looks like it has crumbled. 2100 UTC The cell to the SE has crumbled away to just about nothing on the radar. It's remains have stayed to our SE. A few isolated cells have been hovering over the tip of Florida area. Otherwise, nothing to report, just sunny skies. Winds: light, N 2200 UTC A very light haze still covers the sky, and there are a small amount of high clouds to the east. Otherwise, the sky is clear with just a few tiny cumulus scattered about. Winds: N 2230 UTC Antenna down. 2255 UTC Antenna back up. Nothing really worth looking at all day long. KLM 2300 UTC Deep, mature cumulonimbus clouds off to the northeast. Rest of sky is clear and hazy. Winds are from the north. Antenna still down! 8/27/01 0000 UTC Cumulonimbus clouds off to the northeast. Rest of sky clear and hazy. Winds are from the north. Antenna still down! 0100 UTC IC lightning visible towards the northeast. Winds are from the north. Antenna being worked on! 0200 UTC IC lightning visible towards the east. A 40 km thin line of cells is moving south just southeast of N-Pol. Numerous other cells are firing north and east of the site. Movement generally towards the south. Winds are light from the north. Antenna still being worked on! 0300 UTC Line of storms east of N-Pol dissipated while storms to the north of N-Pol continue to move south toward the radar site. Winds are becoming fairly gusty from the north as a convective cell approaches. Antenna is up and running at the moment! 0400 UTC Antenna down! Winds from the north. Some IC lightning visible towards the north. 0500 UTC Antenna still down! Winds are calm. 0600 UTC Antenna still down! Winds are calm. 0700 UTC Antenna up and running at the moment! Isolated, shallow convective cells south and northwest of N-Pol moving south- southwestward. Winds are calm. 0800 UTC Antenna still having problems! One convective cell 100 km northwest of Keys moving south. Winds remain calm. 0900 UTC Antenna still having problems! Few isolated cells 100 to 150 km south of Keys. Little movement of cells. Winds remain calm. 1000 UTC Antenna still down! No convective cells around on radar screen. Sky is clear with calm winds. VAC 1120 UTC Antenna down. Sky mostly clear. A few cumulus in the distance to the SE and a small amount of high clouds to the east. Winds: calm 1200 UTC Antenna down. Clear and a little hazy, but not as hazy as yesterday. Winds: calm 1300 UTC Antenna down. Sky is mostly clear over us. To the south there are a few cells that may correspond with the cells we saw on radar about 20 minutes ago when we were able to do one scan. At that time, the cells were isolated and arranged in a line beginning to the SE of here, and stretching down to the SW toward Cuba. NPOL is reading hotter than it did before all the problems, perhaps by about 6 dB. At the time of the last scan (1241), the largest cells were approximately 20 km wide and had max reflectivity values of 54 dBz. Winds: calm 1400 UTC We can get NPOL to do a few scans here and there, but nothing continuous yet. 0.5 elevation scan from 1356 shows that the line of isolated cells to the south is still with us. Max reflectivity values are about the same as before, ~54 dBz. Still hazy, but not too many small clouds today. Radar also shows two very small cells to our NE about 20 km away. These are not visible from NPOL site. Radar has been told not to shut down when it gets an error message, so right now it is running continuously, even though we're still getting error messages. Winds: very light, E 1510 UTC Antenna down. Clouds are building and are fairly tall to the NW, but since it is hazy out still, it is difficult to tell if they are raining or not. Smaller cumulus present to the NE. There appears to be more clouds to the distant south, but these too are hard to make out because of the haze. Winds: very light, SE 1600 UTC Antenna down. NPOL did a full volume scan about 30 minutes ago which showed a cell about 15 km across to the NE about 30 km away from the radar site. From observing the weather outside, it appears that this cell has moved toward us and is raining down on the area to the NE. Lots of clouds to the NW also. Might be raining over here, but again hard to tell with the haze. ~1615 UTC Winds have picked up stronger from the SW. Storm system to the NE is getting closer and stronger. 1621 ANTENNA UP!!!!!! Running sector scans (270 to 90 deg) System oriented along Keys - WSW to ENE moving toward Key West. Largest and strongest part of the storm is located east of here, close to where the main part of the Keys begin. The first part of the storm that will hit us has max reflectivities of about 54 dBz. 1623 UTC Winds have shifted, now from NE and much cooler. This must be the outflow from the system approaching radar site. 1632 Heavy rain with infrequent loud thunder. 1640 Rain lets up 1642 Heavy rain and loud, but infrequent thunder. 1700 NPOL doing sector scan 340 to 160. Can see three reflectivity max with values in upper 40's to 50 1730 Storm has died down a lot. The major action in the cells has passed us, and the rain is just about finished. It is continuing to move toward the SW. 1800 The weather here has calmed down completely. Rain has stopped. No thunder. The system that moved through here has dissipated considerably, and is located to the SW now. There are cells forming along the first Keys off of the coast of Florida (40 dBz), and one fairly strong one to the SW (45 dBz). A couple of smaller cells have popped up over the tip of Florida along the coast. 1900 The cells along the first Keys (mentioned above) have increased to max reflectivities of ~45dBz, and the one cell to the SW has values up to ~52dBz now. It seems like these cells have formed along the line that the big system earlier formed on (the one that came through ~1630). This coincides with a line that the isolated cells formed along earlier this morning (while the radar was still down most of the time). Maybe there is some type of boundary. One of the cells along the Florida coast has also increased in size and intensity. 2000 Sky clearing some to the north, otherwise covered with medium and high height clouds. A few isolated cells on radar to the south, and three cells over the tip of Florida. Winds: calm 2100 Sky is partially covered with thin high clouds, and is more clear in the northern half. Radar shows a cell directly to the south, but far away from here. Much sunnier than earlier. Winds: calm 2200 Cell to south of here has run out of juice. It's still there, but much weaker and probably not raining. Sky here is clear with some thin high clouds. Nothing within our range on radar. Winds: very light, variable KLM 2300 UTC Radar screen practically clear. Cirrus clouds dominate the sky with the exception to the northeast where a small cumulus line exists. Winds are light and variable. 8/28/01 0000 UTC Isolated cells towards the northeast over the everglades. Cirrus clouds off to the west with cumulus clouds to the northeast still. Winds are calm. 0100 UTC Isolated, small cells continue north and northeast of Keys. Movement is generally to the west-southwest. Winds are from the northeast. 0200 UTC Isolated cell to the northeast moving almost due north. Otherwise very quiet over the past hour. Winds remain from the northeast. 0300 UTC Perfectly clear radar screen. Winds are calm. 0400 UTC Perfectly clear radar screen. Winds are calm. 0500 UTC Perfectly clear radar screen. Winds are from the east. 0600 UTC Few cells firing along a northwest to southeast oriented stationary boundary present about 40 km northeast of N-Pol. Winds are from the east. 0700 UTC Cells still present along boundary northeast of Keys. Cells moving along boundary to the northwest. A southwest to northeast oriented boundary racing up from the southeast has triggered numerous convective cells which are quite organized linearly from southwest to northeast and quickly moving to the northwest. It remains to be seen whether the storms will hold together or are short-lived like the previous convection in the area. CG lightning seen off to the west-southwest. Winds are from the southeast now. 0800 UTC Line of cells off to the west and southwest have weakened significantly over the past half hour as have the cells along the stationary boundary northeast of N-Pol. Most of the larger line of cells to the southwest has moved over a region currently not being scanned by the radar due to the recent antenna problems. Winds remain from the southeast. 0900 UTC Few isolated cells south of N-Pol moving northwest. Wind is from the southeast. 1000 UTC Showers more numerous now with cells south, north and east of N-Pol all moving towards the northwest. Wind is from the southeast. DRJ 1100 UTC To the north and south, cumulonimbus clouds associated with convective showers are present. Elsewhere, shallow cumulus clouds are present over all sectors of the sky. An area of upper level cirrus clouds is also present to the south. On radar, the south has two areas of showers. One group has a couple of cells to the SSW at 25 km range moving towards the NW. The other area has a cell about 50 km away moving towards the NW. North of the radar, a small group of showers is moving away from the radar towards the NW. Winds were light from the southeast. 1200 UTC The southern sector of the sky has shallow cumulus clouds. The upper level cirrus cloud layer has almost dissipated completely. To the north, deeper cumulus clouds are present. The radar screen at 1140 UTC showed a small cluster of cells to the NNW near 70 km range. These cells were moving to the NW. At this time, N-POL is down and the antenna is being looked at. Winds are light from the southeast. 1300 UTC The sky is partly cloud with small, shallow cumulus clouds present in all sectors of the sky. There is also a cirrus cloud layer to the north associated with deeper cumulus clouds. Winds are light from the southeast. 1400 UTC The sky is partly cloud with cumulus clouds present over all sectors of the sky. The cumulus clouds are deeper within the northern two sectors. Winds remain light from the southeast. 1500 UTC The sky remains partly cloud with cumulus clouds in all sectors of the sky. The clouds to the north are deeper and more numerous than the south. There are also a few patches of high cirrus streaks. Winds are light from the southeast. 1600 UTC The sky is partly cloudy with cumulus clouds over all sectors. To the south, the sky is beginning to clear with only a few shallow clouds remaining. Overhead is a thin patch of cirrus cloud that is spreading. Northward, there are more clouds present, with even a few deep clouds in the far distance. The winds have increased to ~10 mph and still remain from the southeast. 1700 UTC The sky is partly cloudy with most of the cumulus clouds in the northern two sectors of the sky. The southeastern quadrant has some growing cumulus clouds, and the radar screen shows isolated cells developing in that region at 80-90 km range moving toward the northwest. There are a couple of showers to the northeast moving off to the northwest. Winds are light from the southeast. 1800 UTC The sky is partly cloud with shallow cumulus clouds dominating the area. The northern sector does have a few deeper cumulus clouds, as well as higher level cirrus clouds associated with showers that have dissipated. There are a few deep cumulus clouds to the southeast as well. Radar shows a moderately sized convective cell to the north-northwest at 50 km range. Elsewhere, a few isolated showers are located to the southeast. The winds are light from the southeast, with a few gusts up to ~10-15 mph. 1900 UTC Partly cloudy skies continue. To the north, a large area of high level cirrus clouds are present, probably from convective showers that have developed in that area over the day. There are shallow cumulus clouds over most of the sky, with a few patches of thin cirrus streaks. To the south, a cumulus cloud is growing, but it is very narrow. Radar shows a cell 50 km to the south moving towards the west-northwest. Elsewhere on the radar screen, isolated showers are dissipating. Winds are from the east- southeast at 5-10 mph. 2000 UTC The sky is clear above N-POL. To the west and north, high level cirrus streaks are present. In all directions, low level cumulus clouds are present. The cumulus clouds off the southern horizon appear to be deeper in vertical extent. The radar screen shows one isolated cell to the southwest and a cluster of cells over the southern Florida peninsula. All of the echoes are moving towards the west. Winds are light from the east-southeast. 2100 UTC The sky is partly cloud. Over N-POL, thin cirrus streaks are present. Along the northern sector of the sky, shallow cumulus clouds are visible. The only significant radar echoes are isolated cells over the southern Florida peninsula moving towards the west. The winds were light from the east. 2200 UTC The sky is partly cloudy with a few shallow cumulus clouds to the north. There is also a fairly wide and deep cumulus cloud to the north, possibly associated with a convective shower. To the south, upper-level outflow is present in the far distance, probably from convection over Cuba. Radar shows convective showers over the southern tip of Florida moving towards the west. Winds are light from the east. KLM 2300 UTC Deep cumulonimbus clouds off to the northeast associated with convection over the southern tip of Florida. Convection generally moving to the west. Decaying anvil tops towards the south which is most likely convection over Cuba as mentioned before. Small, shallow line of cumulus clouds to the north as well. Otherwise clear over N-Pol with light east winds. 8/29/01 0000 UTC Storms to the northeast have dissipated over the past hour. A developing tower can be seen off to the north-northwest along the cumulus line mentioned before. On radar the cu line appears as a 40 km or so boundary oriented northeast to southwest moving off to the northwest. Otherwise skies are mostly clear with southeast winds. 0100 UTC Lone cell continues along boundary northwest of Keys moving northwest. Highest cloud tops are around 12-13 km. Few isolated cells north of the Keys about 100 km out moving westward. Winds are steady from the east- southeast. 0200 UTC Few isolated, weak cells north and west- northwest of Keys. Movement of cells generally to the west. Winds are from the east-southeast. 0300 UTC Few isolated cells north and west of Keys still moving to the west. New cell firing to the east-northeast also moving to the west. Winds remain from the east-southeast. 0400 UTC Isolated, decaying cells to the north and east of the Keys moving west. Winds are from the east-southeast. 0500 UTC Convective cells becoming more numerous over the past hour. Cells tend to be forming along a line from 150 km north of N-Pol and extending south-southwestward to about 50 km west of N-Pol moving to the west. Cells to the north are strongest with tops at 15 km. Winds are steady from the east. 0600 UTC Convective cells to the north have formed into a nice multi-cell convective complex about 50 km in length and 20 km wide located between 100 and 150 km north of N-Pol. This complex has max tops of 12-13 km. Numerous other small convective cells have formed south of the Keys from extreme southeastern to extreme southwestern portion of viewing area. It remains to be seen whether these cells will form into anything of significance yet. Also new cells firing well west of Keys. All convection moving off to the west. Winds are breezy from the east with IC and CA lightning being seen throughout the past hour to the north. Note: ZDR values in convective complex seem very reasonable with fairly high (+) values all along the edge of the complex signifying large raindrops. 0700 UTC Convective complex to the north has become more of a linear convective system over the past hour. Several RHI's were performed on the system and revealed storm tops of about 16 km with max reflectivity values of 55 dBz. Convective line is holding together very well as it moves off to the east. Numerous convective cells continue to cover the entire southern portion of the radar screen. These cells are also moving off to the west. Lightning visible to the north-northwest in association with the convective line. Also lightning visible to the south now. Winds are steady from the southeast. 0800 UTC Convective line has dissipated into two small convective cells over the past hour. Numerous small convective cells dominate the radar screen however all moving generally to the west. Lightning activity has quieted down over the last hour. Winds are from the east. 0900 UTC Another smaller convective complex forming about 50 km northwest of the Keys moving off to the west. Large cluster of convective cells continuing in all directions with the bulk of the activity east and southeast of N- Pol. Movement is to the west. IC lightning seen to the north over the past hour. Winds from the east. 1000 UTC Cells in the south of the Keys have died down significantly. Towards the northwest, large clusters of convective activity have fired up over the past hour. Movement is to the west still. Lightning is visible to the north and northwest associated with the cluster of storms in that region. Winds are from the east. DRJ 1100 UTC Partly cloudy skies prevail with many cumulus clouds present. To the east, anvil cloud tops associated with convective showers are present. To the north-northwest, a towering cumulonimbus cloud is present with fallstreaks beneath the trailing anvil cloud. Radar shows isolated convective showers in all quadrants moving towards the west- northwest. The echoes in the northwest quadrant are more numerous and appear better organized. Winds are light from the east- southeast. 1200 UTC To the northwest is an impressive looking cumulonimbus cloud associated with a fairly large convective shower. A large anvil cloud is spreading out at upper-levels as it reaches the tropopause. To the southeast, there are also a couple of cumulonimbus clouds with spreading anvils at upper levels. Elsewhere, shallow cumulus clouds exist in all quadrants of the sky, with one rapidly growing towards the west-northwest. Radar shows a convective cell towards the northwest and a few towards the west. Some isolated cells also exist towards the southeast. Winds were light from the east. 1520 UTC A line of storms oriented SW-NE formed in the northeast quadrant at the ranges of 50-110 km at 1215 UTC. A practice run of coordinating aircraft was performed on this line until it dissipated at 14:30 UTC. Also during this practice run, another line formed from individual cells in the southeast quadrant around 1315 UTC. This line has dissipated just 10 minutes ago. Partly cloudy skies prevail with patches of thin cirrus clouds from old convective storms. In addition, cumulus clouds are present in all directions. The radar shows a fairly strong convective cell to the northwest at 90 km range moving towards the west. The winds are light from the east-southeast. 1600 UTC The sky is partly cloud with patches of thin cirrus from showers that have already dissipated. There are also shallow low-level cumulus clouds in all quadrants of the sky. Radar shows a few moderate size echoes to the northwest moving towards the west. There is also a small cell just developing to the east of N-POL at 100 km range. The winds were from the east at ~10 mph. 1800 UTC The sky is partly cloudy. Above N-POL, a few remaining thin patches of high level cirrus clouds are present. Shallow low-level cumulus clouds are also present. To the northwest, an anvil cloud in the far distance is observable. Radar shows a few isolated convective cells in the northwest quadrant moving away from the radar. There is a cluster of cells along the southwest part of the Florida peninsula. Winds are light from the east. 1900 UTC The sky is partly cloudy with a few regions of thin, feather-like cirrus clouds. Low- level cumulus clouds are present as well, with most of them being in the two northern quadrants. Radar shows a few isolated convective showers to the northwest and southeast. However, the main activity is along the southwest part of the peninsula as a cluster of cells slowly moves to the west- northwest. The winds are from the east at ~10 mph. 2000 UTC The sky is partly cloudy. Thin patches of cirrus clouds are present to the west. Cumulus clouds are present over all quadrants of the sky, but appear deeper to the north. Also to the north, outflow at upper-levels is present from the convection taking place. Radar shows a few isolated cells. Two to the southeast are moving towards the radar as they dissipate. Another cell is to the northwest moving away from the radar. The main echoes are north of N-POL as the clusters of storms move west off the southwest peninsula over the ocean. Winds are from the east at ~10-15 mph. 2100 UTC The only changes to the cloud pattern are two large cumulonimbus clouds. One is to the northwest at 50 km range. The other Cb is to the east of the radar at 110 km. Both cells are moving to the west. Elsewhere on the radar screen, the convection over southern Florida has dissipated very rapidly. There is convection still occurring over Florida, just farther north. Cuba also has many convective showers. Winds are light from the east-southeast. 2200 UTC The sky is partly cloudy. Above N-POL are a few regions of wispy cirrus clouds. To the north, outflow from convection covers much of the sky, with cumulus clouds beneath. To the west, shallow low-level cumulus dominate. The radar shows convection over southwest Florida (just southeast of Tampa) and Cuba. An elongated cell has just developed to the north-northeast at 90 km range. No other significant echoes are within 150 km. Winds are light from the east. DM 2305 UTC A couple convective cells are present near 80 km range just to the West of the FL peninsula. Other convection and showers are moving West off the FL peninsula beyond 150 km range. Scattered convection over Cuba. Conditions are partly cloudy, with cirrus and scattered ordinary Cu. Visible anvil to NE from convection near S. Florida. 2340 UTC Small showers to NW near 40 km range. Convection that moved off the FL peninsula is weakening. Convection continues over Cuba. Anvil present to NNE. 08/30/01____________ 0022 UTC Tapes changed. Showers to NW have weakened. Towering Cu creating these showers have dissipated against the setting sun. Convection continues over the Gulf waters North near 80 km range. Lightning and anvil present to North. Convection continues over Cuba, although weakening. 0116 UTC A couple small convective cells near 140 km range due North of NPOL. Lightning visible to North. Convection and showers to West of FL peninsula (in Gulf) from 150 to 250 km range. Convection continues over Cuba from 150 to 250 km range. No other significant echo. 0226 UTC Small convective cells to N and NW from 120- 150 km range. Lightning still present to the North. A larger area of lighter echo extends northward to 250 km range. Convection over Cuba is diminishing. A few cells have developed to the East beyond 200 km range. 0326 UTC Scattered convective cells and showers to NNW from 80 to 200 km range. No other significant echo within 150 km. Lightning visible to North. 0406 UTC Cluster of convective cells to NNW from 85 to 200 km range. Cells appear to be decreasing in coverage, but maintaining intensity. Maximum reflectivity near 45.5 dBZ, and extends to ~4.0 km height. Lightning visible to North. Detectable echo height near 10 km. No other significant echo within 150 km range. Echo over Cuba has almost completely diminished. 0450 UTC Cells to NNW are rapidly diminishing. Only small area of light showers remain. Small cells beginning to develop to NE and SW near 80 km range. Scattered cells and showers to E and SE from 120-250 km range. Lightning to North has stopped. 0531 UTC Small isolated to scattered cells and showers are developing in all quadrants. The closest cells are near 80 km range. All cells are moving WNW. Maximum reflectivities are near 45 dBZ. 0616 UTC Cluster of small cells and showers increasing in coverage to SW. Cluster is located from 80 to 100 km range. Maximum reflectivity near 45 dBZ. Scattered small cells/showers forming and dissipating to E and SE from 40 to 200 km range. Small cell has developed due E near 40 km range. Max. reflectivity of 42 dBZ. All echo moving to WNW. 0650 UTC Most showers and small convective cells now beginning to weaken. The only significant echo is the small cluster to SW from 80 to 100 km range. Echo rapidly moving to WNW. Isolated showers are popping up and decaying within volume scans times. 0716 UTC Scattered to isolated small showers and cells are present in all quadrants from 80-250 km range. Nothing organized - nothing significant. 0740 UTC Scattered small convective cells are most prevalent in the Northwestern quadrant from 80 to 250 km range. Max reflectivity 48 dBZ. Isolated cells and showers are present to East also. Two small cells have developed to the NE between 50-60 km range. Maximum reflectivity 42 dBZ. All echo moving to WNW. 0806Z UTC Stopped scanning. Radar down for maintenance. VAC 1400 UTC Radar back up. Sky mostly clear. Streak of high cirrus oriented SW to NE. Small cumulus developing to the N and NE. Appears to be a tower building way off to the W. Winds: light/medium, SE 1500 UTC Conditions are basically the same as at 1400, except that the small cumulus from the north have moved in closer to our site. There's a cluster of small cells in the NW quadrant out about 100 km. The strongest one is the closest cell located at 315 deg. It has max reflectivities of about 45dBz. Winds: light, SE 1600 UTC Conditions same as 1500. Winds: light, SE 1730 UTC Conditions basically the same as 1600, except more small cumulus clouds than before. Radar shows lots of tiny cells scattered randomly all over the screen. There is a larger area of convection to the SE with tops above 14 km. Other than that, nothing is really organized, and there's lots of blue sky. Winds: light, SE 1830 UTC Even more cumulus outside than earlier, and off to the NW larger cells are visible that correspond to the cells seen on radar right now. The larger area of convection mentioned at 1730 has moved closer to us (it's now visible outside) and has split into two smaller areas of weather. It's about35 km away to the SE. The random cells that cover the radar screen are each slowly growing larger, but not merging. They all appear to be moving toward the WNW. Winds: light, SE 1900 UTC Cumulus clouds and tiny radar cells are denser towards the NW. The cell that had been making its way toward us from the SE has broken apart and dissipated considerably, but is still visible. The sky is clearest to the SW. Radar screen still covered with random small cells, all moving toward the WNW. Winds: light, SE 2000 UTC Clouds have thinned out. Much clearer to the SE. Fewer small cells on radar than earlier. There are small pockets of thin high clouds and small cumulus spread all around. To the north, there are some skinny, small to medium height cumulus clouds that are tilted toward the east with height. The biggest thing out there now is an area of convection that is forming in the southern tip of Florida, and gaining strength. Winds: light/medium, SE 2100 UTC Even fewer clouds and cells now. A couple small lines are forming to the east, kind of parallel to the first island off the coast of Florida. The convection over Florida has died down. The part over land lasted longer than the part that stretched out over the ocean. Mostly clear here, with a few cumulus clouds that tend to tilt toward the east with height. Winds: light/medium, SE 2220 UTC Sky is very clear. Overhead, there are a few patches of very high cirrus. To the NNW a couple of cumulus towers have sprung up and are visible on radar, but appear to be past their peak. To the south, the tops of the big storms over Cuba are visible. They look quite impressive. Otherwise, nothing much on radar. Winds: light, SE DM 2336 UTC Convection over Cuba moving to NW and rapidly weakening. Closest cells to South near 140 km range. Convection over S. FL peninsula weakening. Two very small cells have developed to NW near 68 and 81 km range. An additional cell and lighter echo to NE beyond 250 km. 2336 UTC Noticed that "trmm-linux" display does not appear to be showing the correct range. For example, echo near 150 km range per display, is calculated to be near 130 km range per point-and-click crosshair tool. Clicking directly over the NPOL site shows a range of 19.7 km. All echo on scope does not appear to be labeled with the correct range. Nathan informed. Will not be using the "trmm-linux" box until this is resolved. The above science entry at 2336 UTC was written using "nrt3" display. Range display set back to home (NPOL) radar. Ranges now appear correct. 08/31/01____________ 0105 UTC No significant echo within 200 km range. 0135 UTC Only a couple very tiny speck showers within 200 km range. 0245 UTC Isolated small showers to North from 140 to 300 km range. No other significant echo. 0405 UTC Isolated small showers and cells developing to NW and SW from 100-250 km range. Maximum reflectivity 45 dBZ. 0505 UTC Isolated small showers and cells continue to form and dissipate mainly in the NW quadrant from 100 to 200 km range. Maximum reflectivity near 45 dBZ. 0555 UTC Isolated small showers and cells continue in NW quadrant from 100-300 km range. Maximum reflectivity 48.5 dBZ. Strongest cell has detectable echo top to 9 km, with reflectivity core of > 30 dBZ from sfc to 4.5 km height. 0655 UTC Isolated showers and small cells continue mainly in NW quadrant from 110-250 km range. Maximum reflectivity 45 dBZ. Cells have decreased in coverage over the past hour. 0805 UTC Three small clusters of showers with embedded cells to NW from 125-250 km range. Maximum reflectivity near 45.5 dBZ. New cells beginning to form to NE near 80 km range, and SE near 63 km range. Additional small cluster beginning to form to SSW near 120 km range. Maximum reflectivity near 45 dBZ. 0905 UTC Small cluster of showers and cells to NW from 100-250 km range. Small cells beginning to develop to S and E. All echo rapidly moving to NW. 1005 UTC Scattered small cells developing mainly to W and NW from 50-250 km range. Additional small cells forming to E and SE near 150 km range. VAC 1120 UTC Most of the small cells are in the NW quadrant, but a few are to the SW and SE. The largest areas of convection are beyond 150 km from here up by Florida. Clouds are larger this morning than they usually are at this time of day. Large cumulus to the WSW, and thin cirrus overhead. Winds: light/medium SE 1210 UTC Most of the small cells now are in the NW and SE quadrants and are moving towards the NW fairly rapidly. Not too much close in range to us. Sky is mostly clear. High wispy clouds to the east, thicker high clouds and medium sized cumulus clouds to the west. Winds: light/medium, SE 1310 UTC The activity near the west coast of Florida is still present, but it has died down some and split into two cells. The most intense cells are to the west right now. These are not very large, and are isolated. There are still a few small weak cells in the SE and NW quadrants, though not nearly as many as earlier this morning. Outside, to the SE the sky is covered in very high clouds with ridges, and to the NW there are thicker high clouds. Scattered throughout the entire sky there are small puff clouds that are moving rapidly towards the NW. Winds: medium, SE 1410 UTC High clouds have decreased, and now are more spread out randomly throughout the sky. The quantity of clouds out there has decreased, but the ones present are still moving toward the NW at a pretty good pace. Radar shows some small cells out to the SE, and a couple of them are visible from here. Not much of interest out there right now. Winds: light/medium, SE 1515 UTC Doing calibrations. Antenna not radiating. Sky is clear except for a plethora of small cumulus moving toward the NW. Winds: light/medium, SE 1610 UTC Antenna not radiating. Same conditions basically as before. Winds: light, SE 1705 UTC Antenna radiating. Sky has clouded up, but there still is a little sun. Light rain has just begun. Cells popping up in southern half of radar screen. The strongest one is south of here and has reflectivities up to 48 dBz. Cells are moving quickly toward the NW. Winds: calm 1730 UTC Rains have stopped. Can see it raining to the N, NNW. 1820 UTC Cell that moved through us is still moving to the NW, although it is a little weaker than it was at its peak. All of the cells to our south are moving at a uniform rate toward the NW and seem to be gaining strength rather than dying off quickly like they tend to do around here. A tiny cell is moving toward us right now on radar, and can be seen outside to our SE. Winds: light, SE 1910 UTC Continuing to have small cells spread all around us. One is located to the WSW right now and appears to be raining down. The southern edge of most of the storms is getting within about 60 km of us. Winds: medium, SE 2030 UTC Small cells are still present to the east and the northwest, and they continue to move toward the northwest. Right now they seem to be weakening for the most part. The only decent sized storms right now are those building over Cuba and Florida. The tops of one of the cells over Cuba is visible to the south. Thick high clouds preside to the north. Otherwise, sky here is clear. Winds: light, SE 2210 UTC High clouds moving in from the north and covering about 2/3 of the sky. These high clouds get thinner as they stretch towards the south. A few small cumulus are scattered around the sky, mainly to the north. There's one cell off to the NW ~85 km away, and that's about all there is on radar. Winds: light, SE 9/1/01 VAC 1230 UTC A few thin high clouds are scattered throughout the sky. To the south, can see the closest part of the system of cell to our south. These cells have reflectivities up to ~47dBz. This system is actually a little organized and grouped instead of just being isolated cells like we typically see. Another line of cells is passing to our west now, and has spawned an outflow boundary that is moving toward the Keys - perhaps this will trigger some weather our way. To the WNW a group of cumulus appears to be growing - will watch this area. Winds: light, SE 1330 UTC Most of the action is located to the south and west, although there are cells to the north and east. The outflow boundary from earlier has triggered a line of cells. These cells formed just a little behind the area where the outflow boundary was last visible before it disappeared. The line is located just to the west of Key West, and has max reflectivity values of 47dBz. The system to the south of us looks like it too may have been helped out by the outflow, but I'm not positively sure on that one. At any rate, it seems to be thriving right now. The weather is moving toward the NW for the most part, but the cells don't seem so isolated as they normally do. Perhaps we will see some interaction between cells later on. Winds: light, SE 1445 UTC Line of cells has intensified and come together to form a mostly solid line. Max reflectivities are ~48 dBz. Called up SMART- R - Jerry is going up to run it. Line is oriented NNW to SSE, about 15 km west of Key West and is moving slowly to the NW. At the southern end of the line, there is another branch of the line that is oriented NW to SE and is moving along with the main line. There's another cell a ways out to our SE that we also need to watch as it moves toward NPOL site. The line of storms looks beautiful outside. Winds: light, SE 1540 UTC The line to our west has split into two separate areas, one to the west and one to the southwest. The one to the west has weakened and now has max reflectivities of ~32dBz. The other one is still hanging in there and has max values at ~48 dBz. They both are 40-50 km away from here. To the southeast there is another area of activity that is heading for the Keys. The individual cells in this system are smaller than the ones previously mentioned, but there are more of them, and thus they cover a larger area. Max values are in the forties. Outside, the two parts of the broken up line are visible to the west, as is one of the cells approaching us from the SE. Winds: light/medium, SE 1638 UTC Raining hard. There is a series of cells moving toward the radar site oriented along the 135 deg. line. This rain is from the first cell. 1730 UTC Just barely sprinkling now. Thunder associated with the storm to our south. Most of the cells are located north of a line from 300 deg to 150 deg, and are small. There's a break to the NE, and rain to the W. The series of cells that were marching toward us has broken apart and now is in two main parts, one at 330 deg and the other at 170 deg. Both are about 10km apart. The northern one has already moved through the NPOL site, and the southern one is the strongest. 1751 UTC Hard rain. Thunder is closer. 1840 UTC The northern lobe is full of action right now. Here, there is one large area of weather that has many small reflectivity max spread throughout. The highest values in this area are up around 48dBz. This area has persisted for a while. Convection is also popping up over the southern part of Florida away from the coast and to the NW. 1910 UTC There's a clear pocket overhead to the SE, but to the distance in the SE quadrant a couple growing cumulonimbus are visible. High clouds are pushing in from the north. The sky to the north is completely covered by clouds at different levels. 2020 UTC Sky hasn't changed much. To the SE, we still have a clear pocket and now there is one tower building way off in the distance. The northern sky is completely covered by middle and high level clouds. There are high clouds overhead. Most of the activity has moved out of the dual Doppler region (after being there for almost four hours), but there a little bit of action left on the eastern side of the lobe that looks like it may develop. Otherwise, the convection is to the north and east of the lobes. Lots of convection over Florida. Winds: light, E 2115 UTC The old convection is gone from the lobes, but fresh convection has popped up and is growing. This convection is located to the north of here. There's a small cell to the west of us that is raining down (visible outside), and another to the SE. This cell may pass over MIPS. Winds: light, SE 2240 UTC Sky is mostly cloudy. Clouds are thicker to the north. To the WNW there is a beautiful cell. Can see entire thing from here, from the base and tower part of the storm to the end of the anvil. More cells in the distance to the west. To the north, in the middle of the northern lobe there is a line of cells oriented N-S. This system has been in the lobe for two hours and 45 minutes now and is about 10 km tall and has max reflectivities of ~48dBz. 9/2/01 0015 UTC Large bank of non-precipitating clouds north and west. Clear south and east. Scattered echoes are 50 km northwest moving to the northwest (away). 0156 UTC Thin scattered overcast. Moon is bright. 0503 UTC Rain started. There is an isolated 50 dBz cell about 30 km to the south moving northwest. 0512 UTC Rain ended. 0715 UTC Numerous scattered, isolated showers with reflectivities up to 44 dBz are passing southwest to northeast. Most are missing the Keys. 1030 UTC Showers are building to 50 dBz building 50- 100 km west and northwest. Movement is to the northwest. DRJ 1110 UTC The sky is partly cloud with mostly cumulus clouds. To the north, the cumulus clouds appear to be growing deeper. To the northwest, upper-level clouds from cumulonimbus clouds are present. There are also a few thin patches of cirrus streaks overhead. The radar shows widespread convection taking place in most of the western two quadrants. In addition, isolated cells are developing to the north at 80 km range, moving towards the northwest. Winds are light from the east-southeast. 1200 UTC Conditions remain the same. Cumulus clouds dominate the sky with deeper clouds located to the north and northwest. The radar screen continues to show widespread convective showers over the western two quadrants (primarily in the northwest quadrant). The cells that were developing to the north at 80 km range have decreased in intensity, but have increased in size as they merged together. There were also a couple of new cells that developed ahead of the rain region. Winds are light from the east. 1300 UTC The cumulus clouds are beginning to grow deeper all around the radar. The convection in the southwest quadrant has moved northwest, leaving a few isolated cells. The majority of the precipitation echoes are in the northwest quadrant. Isolated cells are also beginning to form to the southeast and northeast. All of the echoes are moving towards the northwest. Winds are light-to- moderate from the east-southeast. 1400 UTC The sky is partly cloud with mainly cumulus clouds. To the northwest, middle and upper- level clouds are present, associated with a cell that developed over Key West. To the southeast, a few cells were moving close to the MIPS site, however, these cells are dissipating rather quickly. To the south, a short line segment is composed of three cells space 5 km apart. Lastly, convection is still widespread in the northwest quadrant, moving to the northwest. Winds are light from the southeast. 1505 UTC The sky is partly cloudy with deeper cumulus clouds. Also, there are more patches of thin cirrus clouds. Radar shows most of the convective activity is to the west and northwest. These rain areas are moving to the northwest, away from the radar. To the south, the line segment composed of a few cells is still present. To the southeast and northeast, isolated cells have developed, but tend to be short-lived. Winds were light-to- moderate from the southeast. 1730 UTC Scattered convection in the NW quadrant from 50 to 100 Km from the radar. Small cell passed 5 km south of MIPS. Message was passed using the group function on the phone. 1840 UTC The sky is partly cloud with a thin layer of cirrus covering some of the area. Also present are cumulus clouds in all quadrants. Radar shows widespread convective activity in the NW quadrant. Most of this activity is near 100 km range and beyond. There is new development in the same quadrant, but at 40 km range (one isolated cell). The winds are light from the southeast. 1940 UTC To the north, a towering cumulus cloud is present with two rain shafts present. Radar shows the development of two cells next to each other at 20 km range. The convection in the NW quadrant is moving away from the radar and dissipating at the same time. Winds are light from the southeast. 2000 UTC X-POL was called to notify them of the cell. The cell was located to their NW at 10 km range. N-POL has changed to a KAMP_NEAR task in order to get echo top. RHIs have also been performed to get vertical structure of the cell. 2030 UTC X-POL is now collecting data and will do so until this cell dissipates. No other significant echoes are close to the area. 2120 UTC The cell being tracked by both X-POL and N- POL has dissipated. X-POL has shut down operations for the day and N-POL has gone back to the KAMP_FAR task. 2150 UTC The sky is partly cloud with a few patches of thin cirrus to the N and NW associated with dissipated showers. Elsewhere, cumulus clouds are present in all quadrants. The radar screen is fairly quiet around the area. A small group of cells is located to the NW near 120 km. The only other significant rain is over Cuba and SW Florida, just south of Tampa. Winds are light from the east- southeast. 2250 UTC A tower cumulonimbus is visible to the W. The sun is directly behind it resulting in a green color towards the top of the cloud. A cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flash was observed. A rain shaft is also visible from cloud base to the ground. KLM 9/3/01 0000 UTC A building cumulonimbus cloud can be seen off to the west-southwest with a decaying anvil from the previous cell can be seen west of N- Pol. All cells are moving off towards the west. Cumulus and cirrus clouds are visible to the north and west as well. Otherwise mostly clear over N-Pol. Winds are from the east. 0100 UTC Small, isolated cells to the west about 50 km out. Otherwise no weather near the Keys in the past hour. Winds are from the east. Lightning visible to the south over the past hour. 0200 UTC Cells to the west have dissipated. Stronger convection has fired 100 to 150 km north of the Keys just off the west coast of the Florida peninsula. Lightning has been visible to the north in association with these cells. Movement is to the west. Winds are from the east. 0205 UTC Antenna is currently down!! 0300 UTC Antenna is still down!! Lightning has been visible to the north still. Winds are from the east. 0400 UTC Antenna is still down!! Lightning has been visible to the north over the past hour. Winds are from the east. 0500 UTC Antenna still down! Decided to shut down for the night!!! DRJ 2155 UTC N-POL is back up and running. Two strong convective cells are located to the NW and NE, both at 25 km range. Outside, the cumulus clouds are growing very rapidly in those directions, with rain shafts visible. Winds are light from the east-southeast. KLM 2300 UTC Cumulonimbus clouds are building to the north and northwest. Another tower is located south of N-Pol. Otherwise, cumulus and high- level cirrus clouds dominate the skies over the area. A strong line of cells can be seen on the radar screen 150 km south of Keys associated with convection moving northward off the coast of Cuba. Also, isolated cells dominate the northern portion of the radar screen, with the largest cells coming off the western Florida coastline. These cells are moving west-northwesterly. Winds are currently from the east-southeast. 9/4/01 0000 UTC Cumulonimbus clouds can still be seen north, northwest and south of N-Pol. Spotty showers still exist north and northwest of the keys moving to the west-northwest while a larger cluster of storms, although a bit less intense as before continues to move off the northern Cuban coastline. A larger more intense cluster of storms is moving west- northwesterly off the western Florida coast between 100 and 150 km north of the Keys. RHI performed on this cluster showing tops of about 13 km with highest reflectivity values of almost 48 dBz. Winds remain light from the east-southeast. 0105 UTC Antenna down!!! 0545 UTC Antenna still down!! Light rain has begun to fall here at N-Pol. Lightning has been visible in all directions in the past few hours. Most lightning activity is now to the northwest. X-Pol and SMART-R are now operational due to the shower activity that's in the area. Winds are from the east- southeast. 1045 UTC Antenna still down!! Just began raining hard at the N-Pol radar site. Lightning visible in nearly all directions. 9/21/01 DRJ 1725 UTC N-POL has been running fine since 1400. At this time, there are a few isolated cells towards the northwest, beyond 120 km range. The sky is partly cloudy with patches of cirrus clouds and a few shallow cumulus clouds. The winds are light from the east. KLM 2300 UTC There is little weather of any significance. A few isolated showers can be seen over the extreme southwest Florida peninsula. The sky is mostly clear with a small cumulus line just north of N-POL. The winds are very light from the east. 9/22/01 0000 UTC Little weather to report still. Some cells moving west off the Florida peninsula as well as some cells west and northwest of the Keys also moving to the west. Winds are light from the east. 0100 UTC Little change in the weather. Cells about 100 km north of the Keys moving to the west. Winds are light and variable. 0200 UTC Cluster of storms continues to fire north- northeast of the Keys. Movement is to the west still. Otherwise, very clear radar screen. Lightning was visible over the past hour north of the radar site. Winds are light and variable. 0300 UTC Cluster of storms north of the Keys is dissipating as it moves off to the west. Otherwise, very quiet weather. Some lightning was visible to the north during the past hour. Winds are light from the east. 0400 UTC Cluster of cells to the north have almost completely dissipated now. No other weather to report. Winds are light and variable. 0500 UTC Convective cells have become a bit more numerous north to north-northwest of the Keys extending from about 30 to 150 km out. Movement is still to the west. Lightning has been visible to the north during the past hour. Winds are light and variable. 0600 UTC No significant change in the weather over the past hour. 0700 UTC No significant change in the weather over the past hour. 0800 UTC No significant change in the weather over the past hour. 0900 UTC Not one convective cell to report. Winds are calm. 1000 UTC Not one convective cell to report. Winds are calm. VAC 1100 UTC Nothing on radar. A line of small cumulus runs from WSW to ENE overhead. Otherwise, there are a few other small cumulus spread across the sky. Winds: calm 1200 UTC A couple of very small, weak cells have popped up within about 5 km of the radar, and can be seen on the display. Light rain is falling to the north, and it is sprinkling here. Winds:very light, NNW 1300 UTC There is a cell way off in the distance to the east, and another to the west, also very far off. Both cells have max values of ~45 dBz. Within about 20 km of radar there are a bunch of very small cells to the south of here. These cells also have max values of ~45 dBz, with one having values up to ~52 dBz. Winds: very light, variable 1400 UTC The cell way off to the east has died, and the one way off to the west is close to dying also. There still are a few small cells to the south, mostly within a 50 km range, and these have max values in the lower 40's. Winds: light, N 1500 UTC There are a few cells off to the WNW, moving toward the WNW. These cells are small. Not much else worth mentioning. 1600 UTC There is still a cell off to the WNW, but it is almost out of range. Other than that, there is just a lot of chaff blowing around today, especially to the west. A few small cumulus are spread across the sky here, but that's about it. Winds: light, N 1700 UTC Conditions basically the same. 1800 UTC Lots of chaff on radar. Did a few RHI's to look at structure of echoes to determine what was weather and what was just junk. Can still barely see cell to WNW. A couple cells have developed to the south, the closest one is visible to the south and has reflectivities in the 40's. Both cells are very small. Skies here are clear. Winds: light/medium, NNE 1900 UTC Just finished zauto calibration. Chaff is lessening, and stretching out into long, thin strips. Popcorn cells are growing now, mostly to the SE. Clear skies here. Winds: light/medium, N 2000 UTC Conditions basically the same. 2100 UTC Cells building along the tip of the Florida coast - visible off to the northeast. Otherwise pretty much clear outside and on radar. Winds: light, N KLM 2300 UTC Small north-south oriented line of cells north-notheast of the Keys moving towards the west. Large cumulonimbus clouds off towards the north. Winds are light and variable. 9/23/01 0000 UTC Line of convection still progressing westward north of the Keys. X-POW is operational now and RHI's have been coordinated with N-POL for cell near the X-POW radar site. RHI's on the convective line previously mentioned showed max reflectivity between 50 and 55 dBz with tops reaching about 12 km. Lightning was visible towards the north over the past hour. Winds are from the east. 0100 UTC Line of cells continues north of the Keys moving towards the west-southwest. Lightning was visible to the north over the past hour. Winds are from the east- northeast. 0200 UTC Some isolated cells north and southeast of the Keys moving to the west-southwest. Lightning visible to the north over the past hour. Winds are from the east-northeast. 0300 UTC Some isolated cells north and north-northeast of the Keys continuing to move to the south- southwest. Some isolated cells continuing to fire up southeast of the Keys also moving to the west-southwest. X-POW still operational since some cells exist within 60 km of the radar site. Winds are from the east- northeast. 0400 UTC Cells north of the Keys have dissipated. Some isolated cells continue south and south- southeast of the Keys moving to the west- southwest. Winds are from the east- northeast. 0500 UTC Some isolated cells north and south-southwest of the Keys moving towards the west. Currently drizzling at N-Pol. Rain began at 0505 UTC. Winds are light from the east. 0600 UTC One isolated cell northwest of Keys about 70 km out moving towards the west. Winds are from the east. 0700 UTC Few isolated cells northwest of the Keys now moving to the northwest. Winds are from the east. 0800 UTC No significant change in the weather to report. 0900 UTC No significant change in the weather to report. 1000 UTC More cells beginning to fire up around the keys, mainly within 100 km. Movement of the cells is to the west-northwest. Winds are light and variable. VAC 1200 UTC Cells are popping up all over the radar screen, especially to the east. They are moving towards the WNW. A north-south line of cells is south of here, and the closest cell in the line can be seen outside and appears to be raining, though not on us. Another cell has been moving across the northern Doppler lobe, and is currently located to the northeast. This cell is also visible, and quite tall. Winds: light, variable 1300 UTC The cell that was to the northeast earlier has continued to move toward the WNW slowly, but it has stretched out and weakened a little bit. A very thin line of cells about 25 km long has formed to the north, about 30 km out. A cell has formed directly to the west, and is raining on the Key West area. It is sprinkling here. Otherwise, there are random small cells all over the place, but nothing organized yet. Winds: very light, NE 1400 UTC The cell and the line to the north have both died. There are fewer small cells scattered about than earlier, and conditions are not looking very good for future development. The largest cell on radar right now is to the WSW and has reflectivities up to ~42dBz in its very small cores. Sky is mostly cloudy right now, especially to the west where the cell mentioned above is located. Sky is clearest to the north. Winds: light, ENE 1515 UTC A waterspout just dropped out of a large sized cumulus to our southwest. The waterspout lasted about 10 minutes or so, and from this vantage point, never made it all the way to the ground. The rotation was clearly visible from here - very cool. The spout dropped from a cell seen on radar to our southwest with reflectivity values up to 45 dBz. This cell, like all other convection occurring now, is moving toward the WNW. Another cell has formed to the northwest in the same area the one from earlier formed, and it seems to be weakening. Winds: light, ENE 1645 UTC The cell that dropped the waterspout moved toward the WNW, and merged with another cell to form a line to the west. This line is oriented west to east. This mass of weather is visible outside to our west. A small cell has formed to the southeast about 30 km out. The largest cell out there is located about 100 km to the northwest. Reflectivities in this larger cell and in the line are up to ~ 45 dBz. Winds: light, E 1800 UTC Cell to our south just dropped a wedge shaped waterspout that never made it completely to the ground. Cell to our north also dropped a waterspout that did reach the ground. This spout spun into a long thin rope that angled off toward the east with height. 1840 UTC Individual cells to the northwest have merged into an east - west line. The eastern tip of this line is about 15km north of NPOL. Maximum reflectivities in this line are about 48 dBz. A cell that had been moving toward us from the southwest has weakened considerably. Winds: light, E 1950 UTC Line from earlier has dissipated and become one cell which is sliding out of the Doppler lobes toward the west. The anvil of this storm is quite extensive and spreads out over the radar site toward the ESE. Max reflectivities in this cell: 46 dBz. A little bit of convection has developed over the tip of Florida. Other than that, there are just a few random cells spread over the radar screen. Winds: light, ESE 2110 UTC A new line formed in much the same location as the previous line and reached it peak, and now appears to be weakening. This line is close by and is visible outside to the north. Convection over southern tip of Florida has continued. Not much else going on at the moment. Winds: light, SE 2215 UTC The line to the north has dissipated almost completely. Convection is continuing to strengthen and grow over Florida. There is one cell to the ESE about 80 km out in range. Otherwise, radar screen is clear. Sky here is clearing toward the west and north. Winds: light, ESE 2330 UTC Nothing on radar except for stuff coming off the coast of Florida. This convection is visible outside to the northeast and contains lightning. Winds: light, E KLM 9/24/01 0000 UTC One small cluster of storms just coming off the west coast of the Florida peninsula between 100 and 150 km north of the Keys. Movement is to the west-southwest. Winds are light from the east. 0100 UTC No significant change in the weather to report. 0200 UTC A few more isolated cells are beginning to fire between 50 and 100 km north of the keys. Lightning has been visible to the north and south over the past hour. Winds are from the east. 0230 UTC Lost burst pulse signal. Turned transmitter off and on and allowed for 10 minute warm up cycle so the 0230 UTC Surv. and KAMP_FAR scans were lost. 0300 UTC Antenna up and running again. Little weather to report. Lightning visible off to the south over the past hour. Winds are steady from the east. 0350 UTC Antenna down again due to loss of pulse signal. 0425 UTC Antenna back up! 0500 UTC No significant change in the weather to report. 0600 UTC No weather to report at all. 0700 UTC No weather to report at all. 0800 UTC Some cells beginning to fire up south and west of the Keys moving to the northwest. Winds are from the east-southeast. 0900 UTC No weather to report at all. 1000 UTC No weather to report at all. 1100 UTC Some isolated cells firing north and east of the Keys moving to the northwest. Winds are calm. VAC 1245 UTC A few isolated cells are to the east of the Keys, but nothing within the lobes. Sky is clear outside except for a few small cumulus. Winds: light, SE 1400 UTC A very small cell is passing by us directly to the east of here, and is visible outside. A small line of cells are moving toward us from the south and are within 20 km of here. Max reflectivities on this line: ~45 dBz. Almost all other activity is outside of the 100 km range ring, and everything is moving toward the north. Winds: light, S 1500 UTC A thin, east-west line of cumulus are visible at a very short distance away from NPOL to the south, and is moving toward the north. This line does not seem to be producing any rain right now, but it looks like it may soon. There is not any thing very large on radar right now, but there are some small cells and areas of chaff. It is difficult to tell the chaff from the weather by looking at the PPI's, especially close up to the radar. Winds: light, S 1530 UTC The thin line has moved over us and it is raining lightly outside. Clear skies can be seen to the south of this line. 1615 UTC Sky is completely clear to the south. An area of high clouds lies to the southeast, and a few isolated cumulus are growing to the north. The majority of the echo out there right now is chaff. Winds:light, SE 1745 UTC Nothing on radar except chaff. Clear outside with some high clouds. Winds: light, SE 1930 UTC Same conditions. 2030 UTC Same conditions. 2130 UTC Same conditions. 2230 UTC A couple of tiny, random cells have popped up. Otherwise, same conditions. KLM 2300 UTC Chaff dominates the radar screen; however, there is a dearth of weather echoes. Skies are mainly clear with light winds from the southeast. 9/25/01 0000 UTC A cluster of storms is beginning to roll off the northern coast of Cuba moving north. These storms are between 200 and ~140 km out. Several RHI's were performed on these storms and revealed max reflectivities of near 60 dBz. Winds are light and variable. 0006 UTC An RHI performed on one of the clusters of storms leaving Cuba's northern coastline revealed 60 dBz cores with max tops reaching between 19 and 20 km!! 0100 UTC Strong storms continue to move north off the coast of Cuba. Several RHI's performed on these cells revealing core reflectivity values near 60 dBz still with max tops near 19 km! Lightning visible to the south. Winds are from the north. 0200 UTC Cluster of storms to the south now showing signs of weakening with little movement at all. Otherwise, clear radar screen. Lightning still visible to the south over the past hour. Winds are light from the east. 0300 UTC Cluster of storms south of Keys continues to hold together as it moves slowly to the north. Lightning has been visible to the south over the past hour still. Winds are calm. 0400 UTC Convective cells becoming more numerous to the southwest as the storms slowly move to the north. N-Pol was put on alert in case operations are necessary. Lightning visible to the south and southwest over the past hour. Winds have picked up from the southeast. 0500 UTC Convective cells continue to dominate the southern portion of the radar screen. A north-northeast to south-southwest oriented line of cells has developed southwest of the Keys moving north. Other cells beginning to fire up southeast and northwest of the Keys but for now are well away from the area. Lightning has been visible to the southwest over the past hour. Winds are steady from the southwest now. 0600 UTC The aforementioned line of cells continues to move to the north but has lost some of its punch. Isolated cells continue to develop well off to the northwest moving to the southeast. Lightning was visible to the west- southwest over the past hour. Winds are blustery from the southwest. 0700 UTC Line of cells to the south-southwest has dissipated and only a broad region of stratiform rain exists now. A thin northeast/southwest oriented line of cells has recently fired along an outflow boundary north of the Keys and is moving to quickly to the north. Winds are light from the southwest. 0800 UTC A few isolated cells northwest of the Keys moving generally to the northeast, otherwise things are very quiet. Winds are from the southwest. 0900 UTC No significant changes in the weather over the past hour. 1000 UTC No significant changes in the weather over the past hour. VAC 1200 UTC Skies clear, nothing on radar. 1300 UTC Nothing significant on radar. High clouds overhead. Winds: calm 1400 UTC Same conditions. 1500 UTC More chaff showing up on radar. Some convective activity just started up way off to the east - nothing big yet though. Winds: very light, SE 1600 UTC Conditions the same. 1700 UTC Conditions the same. 1800 UTC Conditions the same. 1900 UTC Conditions the same. Chaff blowing off toward the northeast. 2000 UTC Conditions the same. 2050 UTC There is an area on radar that has been floating along in much the same manner that the chaff has been moving, but after closer examination it seems that this region has some structure. It's an area off to the northwest, out about 100 km in range. Max reflectivities are around 37 dBz, so it's not very strong but it covers a large area. Winds: light, SE 2220 UTC Not much change in conditions. The area of weather to the northwest is still present and moving toward the northeast. Tops on this area are up to ~7km. A few cells are still over the tip of Florida with tops up to ~14 km. These cells are visible from here. Sky overhead is clear. Winds: light, SE KLM 2300 UTC Nothing to report!!! 9/26/01 0000 UTC Nothing to report!!! 0100 UTC Nothing to report!!! 0200 UTC Nothing to report!!! 0300 UTC Nothing to report!!! 0400 UTC Not a thing to report!!! 0500 UTC A small line of cells has fired up over the past 20 minutes or so just north of the Keys. The line is oriented from northeast-to- northwest and is moving to the northwest. The cells are not too impressive with max reflectivities less than 50 dBz and storm tops of around 7 km. Lightning has been visible to the northwest and north over the past hour. Winds are calm. 0600 UTC The line to the north has weakened considerably. One isolated cell has fired up about 50 km south of the Keys moving northward. X-POW is currently up and running. Lightning has been visible to the north over the past hour. Winds remain calm. 0700 UTC All convective cells have pretty much died off. Winds are calm. 0800 UTC Nothing to report!!! 0900 UTC Not much to report as usual!!! 1000 UTC What a shock..nothing to report!!! VAC 1100 UTC A group of small cells off to the north appears to be trying to form into a line out about 100 km. Another group of cells has formed closer to us, also to the north, but this group is not organized at all. Outside, the closer cells to the north are visible and there are lots of high clouds. Winds: calm 1200 UTC The larger cells to the north are surviving, but the smaller ones seem to be fizzling out. Movement of these cells is toward the north. Semi-high clouds cover much of the sky, with a few baby cumulus to the north. Winds: very light, S 1300 UTC The larger cells from earlier are still present, along with a few other isolated cells spread across the northern half of the radar screen. There is a lot of clutter this morning, especially at lower elevations. Same conditions outside. Winds: very light, SE 1400 UTC The larger cells from earlier have dissipated. A new cell has formed way out to the west of here, but is small. There are still small cells scattered about, mostly confined to the northern half of the screen. High clouds have broken a bit overhead, and very small cumulus clouds are still hanging around. Winds: very light, SE 1500 UTC Conditions outside are about the same. There are only a few scattered cells within the 150km range. There has been a stratiform mass building in the northwest quadrant since 11Z (out around 200 km) and it has developed embedded convective regions. This mass has been moving toward NE all morning, and now appears to be merging with a group of cells that are at the 150 km range toward the northwest. Perhaps part of this mass will enter into the KAMP_FAR region. Winds: very light, SE 1600 UTC Conditions outside are about the same. Starting to see a few more little cells forming out toward the NNW. The mass of precipitation associated with the front is getting closer. Winds: very light, SE 1700 UTC Sky is getting cloudier. Most all of the cells to the northwest are moving toward the north except for one about 100 km out along the 330 deg radial which has stayed fairly stationary and gathered strength and coverage area. A small cell has developed about 20km out to the northwest. The front is still moving closer, and now the edge is just outside of the 150 km range ring. Winds: very light, SE 1800 UTC Edge of front moving closer. Most of the edge of the front is beyond the 100 km range ring. Strongest cells are along the front edge. Some cells are isolated a little, others are connected with the stratiform region. Max reflectivities of about 50 dBz. Cells growing over tip of Florida. Winds: very light, SE 1900 UTC Radar down because NPOL is causing interference with Navy radar. 2000 UTC Radar still down. 2100 UTC Radar still down. 2220 UTC Radar still down. The first big line of clouds just moved over radar site. KLM 2300 UTC Lots of rain in the area. Both X-POW and SMART-R are operational. Strong north-south oriented line just north of the Keys moving to the east. Another line south of the Keys oriented east-to-west moving northward. Several RHI's coordinated with X-POW and several RHI's taken along northern line revealing near 60 dBz cores with storm tops near 15 km. Winds are blustery from the north. 9/27/01 0000 UTC Both line of storms continuing. Southern line weakening a bit. Lots of lightning to the north and northeast now. Winds remain from the north. 0100 UTC Cluster of storms to the north beginning to die out. Line of storms to the south seems to be holding together and moving north towards the Keys. Copious amounts of lightning can be seen to the south and southwest. Winds are gusty from the northwest. 0200 UTC Strong line of storms oriented from east-to- west moving due north toward the Keys. The line is currently about 20 km away. Broad Stratiform rain region exists northeast of the Keys in association with the convection previously in the northern portion of the region. Vivid lightning can be seen from southeast to southwest of the radar site. Winds are gusty from the northwest. 0300 UTC Line to the south is now beginning to lose it's punch as it approaches the Keys. Several RHI's were performed on the line at it moved due east of the radar. Core reflectivities are around 50 dBz and storm tops are around 10 km or so. Broad area of stratiform rain exists south and southwest of the radar site. Winds are light from the east-southeast. 0400 UTC Most convective cells have died down. Some cells are located with 50 km to the east and northeast of the radar site. Large, broad region of stratiform rain dominates the rest of the region at the moment. Winds are light from the east-southeast. 0500 UTC A few convective cells off to the east moving north. Otherwise, broad area of Stratiform rain still exists over most of the region but is slowly dissipating. Light rain began falling at N-POL at around 0445 UTC. Winds are from the east-southeast. 0600 UTC Only broad Stratiform rain region left which is quickly dissipating. Still drizzling at the radar site. Winds are light from the southeast. 0700 UTC Stratiform rain is nearly gone. The radar screen is almost completely clear finally. Winds are light from the southeast. 0800 UTC No significant changes in the weather to report. 0900 UTC No significant changes in the weather to report. 1000 UTC No significant changes in the weather to report. VAC 1100 UTC Not much within 150 km of radar. Outside this range toward the west there is a cluster of cells that are not that intense, moving toward the northeast. To the northwest is another cluster of more defined, more intense cells, also moving toward the northwest. Values on these cells are up to 45 dBz. 1200 UTC Still not much within 150 km. The edge of the activity to the west has moved into the KAMP_FAR range and remains not too intense. The cells to the northwest have basically remained in the same location. These cells have intensified and grown in numbers, and some of the newest cells associated with this group have formed on the southeastern side, closest to NPOL. Max reflectivities ~56dBz. Sky over NPOL totally covered by stratiform deck. Winds: very light, SE 1300 UTC Activity to the west has dissipated. The area to the northwest has filled in with stratiform precipitation. The convective cells are still there, but now they are surrounded by more stratiform precipitation. The individual cells appear to be moving toward the northeast, but the line seem fairly stationary. This line is still about 180 km out in range. Max reflectivities: 48 dBz. Outside, sky still covered in stratiform clouds, and it smells funny. Winds: light, SE 1415 UTC Weather to the northwest is staying together and beginning to creep into the KAMP_FAR range (150 km). There are two main convective cells within this mass, and they have reflectivities up to ~54 dBz. The bulk of this system is still pretty far out and is beginning to stretch out toward Florida. Sky here covered in by stratiform clouds. Winds: light, SE 1520 UTC Weather mass to the northwest is growing larger still. The main convective cells have split into many smaller, but just as intense cells (max values: ~56 dBz). The most intense precipitation is located between 100 and 200 km and between 300 and 0 deg. These smaller cells are more embedded than the earlier cells were, and the stratiform region is growing spatially. This mass is slightly closer to NPOL than it was an hour ago. Winds: very light, SE 1600 UTC Same trend. Weather mass to the northwest still growing larger, and more cells are moving within 150 km of NPOL. An area of precipitation has formed rapidly in the northern half of the northern Doppler lobe. This area is not too intense yet. Another cell has formed in the eastern half of the northern lobe. This one is much smaller than the above mentioned area, but more intense. Winds: very light, SE 1730 UTC The blob has formed all around the northern Doppler lobe, but not very much of it has snuck inside yet. The cell that was in the eastern part of the northern lobe has now split into several cells, one with reflectivities up to ~58 dBz. The other area mentioned at 1600 has fizzled. This system still looks very healthy. Individual cells are moving toward the northeast while the whole line, which is associated with the front over Florida, slowly progresses southward. The Navy is dumping chaff again, and it covers the southeastern part of the northern lobe. Winds: calm 1830 UTC Branches of the storm system to the north are coming down the center of the northern lobe from 0 deg. There have been a few areas of shear located close to where these branches meet the main system. Off to the northwest about 150 km are a few areas of higher reflectivities that appear to stand still while the lower intensity stuff around them moves off toward the northeast. The chaff has died off and small isolated cells are popping up in the lobe. ~1900 UTC Wind shifted. Now from the north and stronger. 1930 UTC Two waterspouts just dropped not too far to the east of here. They both stayed on the ground for ~10 min or so. A debris cloud was visible on the first one. We could clearly see the walls of the spout and the circulation - they were pretty close! The second one moved slowly toward the south while the first one moved south much more quickly and overtook the first one. They both died as a rain shaft moved close to them. It started raining lightly at radar site while the waterspouts were still on the ground. After they died, we could see lots of scud at a close range to the northeast. Winds: stronger, N 1945 UTC Raining hard outside. Rain blowing toward the south. Did a couple birdbaths. 2001 UTC Raining hard. Doing RHIs with XPOW and running NORTH_FARs. 2014 UTC Raining hard. Not seeing good data to the northwest. The area of precipitation that has been present all day is not visible. All echoes that are still present have dimmed. 2100 UTC The problem was probably caused by water on the antenna and in the waveguide. We're bleeding the water off and slowly the signal is returning to full strength. Perhaps the water got in during the birdbaths. 2150 UTC Signal seems to be back to its original strength, and it matches fairly well with NEXRAD from Key West on the internet. Running same scans as TOGA and SMART-R. 2215 UTC Doing ascope on stratiform area to the southeast. 2230 UTC Doing surveillance and FULL_FARs. The stratiform area we did the ascope on is very large and extends from just southeast of here all the way west to 225 km range. This large area has smaller areas of higher reflectivities embedded. The highest values on this area are around 40-45 dBz. A line is forming to the southeast pretty close to the 210deg radial. Winds: N KLM 2300 UTC Numerous convective cells in the southern portion of the radar screen moving generally to the east. Large, broad region of stratiform rain off to the west also moving east but slowly dissipating. Light rain is currently falling at the radar site. Winds are from the north. 9/28/01 0000 UTC Weather echoes remain in the southern portion of the radar screen while the stratiform rain region still exists west of the radar site and is still dissipating slowly. Light rain has been falling over the past hour at the radar site. Winds remain from the north. 0100 UTC Weather pattern very similar over the last hour. The large region of Stratiform rain is still dissipating as it moves over the radar site. The rain has picked up a bit in intensity over the past hour however as the rain moves over the Keys. Winds are from the north. 0200 UTC Large area of convection dominating the southern portion of the radar screen. Reflectivities as high as around 50 dBz have been found in the individual cores. A stronger, thin line of convection oriented from northeast-to-southwest is moving towards the northwest and is about 30 km from N-POL. Light rain has been falling at the radar site over the past hour. The winds are from the northeast now. 0300 UTC Radar's sensitivity weakened quite a bit as the heavier Stratiform rain fell at the radar site earlier but the reflectivities are getting hotter and look to be almost back to normal. Line of showers still approaching radar site and are about 10 km away. Several RHI's were performed on the line revealing low tops (~8 km) and max reflectivities near 45 dBz. Currently drizzling at the radar site. 0400 UTC The radar is currently experiencing a sensitivity problem again. Raining steadily at the site. 0500 UTC Sensitivity problem still exists. Rain continuing across the area however with steady rain at N-POL. Winds are from the southwest now. 0600 UTC Heavy rain encompassing the entire scope of the radar. Currently clear over the radar site however, large east-west oriented line of cells moving north toward the Keys. Strongest cells are 50+ dBz. Winds are light from the northwest. 0700 UTC Rain beginning to diminish somewhat with the exception of the heavy precipitation south of the Keys which continues to move northward. Currently drizzling at N-POL. Winds are light from the northwest. 0800 UTC The pertinacious sensitivity problem has worsened; however, I had prescience of this annoying problem due to the convective cell currently overhead. The sagacious decision was made to discontinue RHI's due to the dearth of echoes being descried by the radar. Moderate rain still falls at the radar site. Winds are light from the northeast. 0900 UTC The N-Pol radar is smitten by the dastardly sensitivity problem, which has become so bad due to the heavy rain overhead, almost nothing is showing up on the radar screen now. This is incommoding me since there is finally a plethora of data that unfortunately can't be resolved. It is raining heavily here at the moment. Winds are light from the east-northeast. 1000 UTC Widespread stratiform rain exists across the entire region; however, you would have to be obtuse to believe that. Looking at other radar data besides N-Pol portrays this. A few convective cells exist north of the Keys. Most of the rain appears to be moving off to the northeast. Of course it is still raining at the radar site. Winds are light from the northeast. VAC 1100 UTC Still having problems with the signal looking too weak. NPOL shows an area of higher reflectivities to the north, right in the middle of the northern lobe, but I'm guessing that it is actually much stronger than what the radar is showing it to be. It's not raining outside now, and by looking at WeatherTap, it looks like we may have a break soon, so maybe things will improve. Winds: calm 1200 UTC Radar looking better. Can see the stronger stratiform area north of here and the cells coming off the coast of Cuba. According to WeatherTap, there is an area of weaker returns to the southwest that NPOL is still not seeing completely. All weather is moving toward the northeast. It's sprinkling here. Winds: calm 1300 UTC Radar looks about the same. The strongest stuff in the northern lobe has moved off toward the northeast and is mostly out of the lobe now. However, the lobe is full of very light return. The activity coming off of Cuba is continuing to move north, and right now looks like it will pass to the east of the Keys. Winds: very light, SSE 1400 UTC Activity moving up from Cuba is developing some nice cells on the leading northern edge, followed by a large area of stratiform rain. This system is about 50 km to the southeast of here, and it looks like the bulk of it will pass us by to the east. The amount of precipitation in the northern lobe has stayed fairly constant, and is not very intense. The stronger area of precipitation that was in the northern lobe earlier is now just north of the lobe and just off the coast of Florida. It is raining very lightly outside. Winds: calm 1500 UTC System to the southeast has moved up and is passing us by to the east. The cells in the front have organized into a thin leading line with a large trailing stratiform region. The rest of the radar screen looks much the same as earlier, except that more precipitation is building to the northwest, outside of the Doppler lobes. It is sprinkling outside. Radar data still looks good. Winds: calm 1600 UTC NPOL is doing RHIs through squall line as it approaches southern tip of Florida. Same stratiform region is overhead, and the weather to the northwest is still present. It is sprinkling here. Winds: calm 1720 UTC Squall line has entered southern Florida. Shut down radar.