Some of you may be wondering what the National Weather Service office in Wilmington is like. Well, if you like computers, radios, weather gadgets, and other neat toys, you’d be in paradise! When you walk into the office, you’re surrounded by every imaginable device for gathering weather information.
This is the Doppler Radar console. It’s more computer than radar. That’s what makes it so useful. The computer’s power allows it to display the received information in many ways that make it useful to forecasters.
This is one of the new Advanced Weather Information Processing System (AWIPS) consoles. It displays most of the incoming information on just a few screens in one location rather than having to run all over the office to gather it.
Here is the amateur radio operating area of the office. It has multiple radios for voice and packet. It is also equipped with a doppler radar display screen (far right).
This is the doppler radar antenna and radome. Well, darned if someone hasn’t painted something on it. What’s that say? WARN Rulez. Those darned kids!
For more images of the Wilmington NWS office, visit their web page at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/er/iln.