LCH Radar Destroyed by Laura

[Randy Jennings]

'When Hurricane Laura made landfall as a Category 4 storm, the radar from the National Weather Service in Lake Charles suddenly stopped updating and we now know why. Storm chaser Brett Adair shared a photo Thursday morning that showed all that was left of the radar.
The radar, which typically looks like a big white ball from the outside, was torn apart by the extremely powerful storm. The Eastern Region headquarters for the National Weather Service said sustained winds at the site topped out around 98 mph, with gusts up to 133 mph."

Full story: National Weather Service radar in Lake Charles destroyed by Hurricane Laura

Picture from Brett Adair:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1299003846631600128

 

[JamesCaruso]

I had noticed it stopped updating and figured that’s what happened; I remember the same thing happened (and a similar picture) when Maria hit Puerto Rico.

I think the POE (Ft. Polk) Radar, north of LCH, also went out. Data from there is still unavailable on RadarScope. Any idea whether that radome was also destroyed? Or could it just be some lesser damage that is affecting data transmission?

 

[rdale]

KPOE is fine. Just the loss of comms.

 

[rdale]

KPOE is back on comms.

 

[Randy Jennings]

More pics as the NEXRAD ROC folks assess the damage:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1300886688940597249

 

[MarkH]

That's just crazy...never seen a radar demolished like that, before

 

[rdale]

San Juan.