La Plata County unveiled its new weather radar system during a special work session held by the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, Oct. 29.
The radar is located at the Durango-La Plata County airport in the cellphone waiting lot, La Plata County Manager Chuck Stevens explained, and has been operating since August.
Stevens began the presentation by providing some historical background as to how the county brought the project to fruition.
“We probably won’t have a conversation about the radar again,” he said, explaining that the hope and intent is “that thing is going to sit out there and quietly rotate and radiate and provide information to our communities for the next few decades.”
Stevens mentioned that the project began about nine months before the 416 Fire that occurred in June 2018, which burned approximately 55,000 acres north of Durango. As a result of that fire, the area also experienced flooding due to the fire burning the ground, making it impermeable, Stevens explained.
“We all learned, as we went through that fire, that there is a phenomenon ... about flood after fire,” Stevens said, noting the soil can become “glass-like.”
Stevens also mentioned that the project first began in September 2017 when Colorado State University (CSU) completed a two-year study assessing weather and climate monitoring systems in Colorado.
Stevens went on to explain that the purpose of that study was to identify gaps in observations and data collection.
One conclusion of a No. 1 priority in that report “was the recommendation to fund and implement gasoline radar systems to serve the San Luis Valley and southwestern Colorado — including Alamosa, Monte Vista, Durango, Cortez, Pagosa Springs, and the national parks and transportation corridors therein,” Stevens said.
He mentioned the 2017 report goes on to state that “radar coverage remains nearly nonexistent in south central and southwestern Colorado, rendering real-time detection and warning for severe weather events in these areas difficult.”
Stevens mentioned that the CSU study is an unbiased study that identified the lack of radar coverage in the area as a tier-one priority needing to be addressed.
He explained that the purpose and need for the radar system is to be able to provide “real-time detection and warning.”
He added, “That’s why we have radar,” explaining that the radar gives officials the ability to detect and then warn the public of severe weather events before it’s too late.
Stevens mentioned the 416 Fire again, noting the KOA campground was one property that was heavily affected by the flooding that ensued. He noted that the folks staying at the campground were likely not residents of La Plata County and did not get any sort of warning that flooding was likely to occur.
“When we saw what was happening, and our inability to detect in real time and provide warning to those people, is something that resonated with us and our office of emergency management,” Stevens said.
He explained that the county did have a tool in use at that time, called CodeRED, and that almost 50 percent of the county had signed up for notifications after the 416 Fire and floods, but that tourists were not signing up for the notification system.
Stevens also mentioned that La Plata County will use the state’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), but that it is rarely used and only for imminent threats to the area.
Stevens went on to reiterate that the reason for having the radar is for early detection and “the ability to provide warning and notifications from a public safety lens.”
He mentioned that prior to the radar coming online, the National Weather Service (NWS) had a black hole in its coverage in the southwest corner of Colorado.
“We didn’t have good coverage. We had an inability to accurately detect and provide early warnings and notifications,” he said.
Stevens explained that the NWS would use “nowcasting” to report real-time weather data. The NWS would spot something on a nearby radar at elevations around 25,000 to 27,000 feet, and then contact La Plata County’s Office of Emergency Management and ask what the conditions were like on the ground, by sending someone out in the field to report.
Stevens went on to explain that the radar has the capability to see what kind of moisture and how much of it will fall during a storm, also noting that the radar is able to monitor storm evolution.
“This is going to help us understand that and more accurately predict what’s going to happen,” he said.
He also mentioned that, over time, the radar system will get tied onto the NWS mosaic of radars across the country.
“Over time it is going to improve the forecasting for the Four Corners region,”he said.
Stevens then spoke about how the Durango-La Plata County airport was chosen as the most ideal location for the radar.
He mentioned that there were issues with finding a suitable location that checked all the necessary boxes of having a road to the tower, sufficient power and fiber lines available, and even planning and zoning complications.
“We’re not immune from our own land use code,” Stevens said.
He explained the site at the airport was chosen because it checked all the boxes necessary for the radar tower to be constructed and installed, without going over budget.
“We’re very happy that the location where this landed is at the airport,” he said.
Stevens also credited the success of the project to multiple partners that La Plata County worked with.
“We wouldn’t have this tower out there if we didn’t have our partners,” he said.
Stevens explained that the county secured funding for the radar system in 2019 and spent more than three years finding the right location to place it.
Funding for the project came in part from a $1.7 million grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and a $500,000 grant from Colorado Department of Transportation.
Stevens explained that the county received three bids on the project and chose to purchase the radar system from Barron Weather.
He mentioned the county wanted a “turnkey project,” in that it only wanted to work with one contractor to have the entire project completed from trenching utility lines to having the actual radar constructed.
“It’s really a tool for public safety,” Stevens added, noting it will benefit residents and visitors.
He mentioned the radar system comes with a 10-year warranty, a maintenance plan and spare parts.
“We shouldn’t have to worry about any maintenance activities,” he said.
The radar will be able to see weather activity from Alamosa; Los Alamos, N.M.; and into eastern Utah, Stevens explained.
“So, that hole has definitely been filled with the new radar,” he said.
The county is working on a mobile application called La Plata County Weather Radar that will incorporate data from the radar system in which residents and visitors can view real-time weather data and receive severe weather notifications.
La Plata County Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norton commented that there has been support from the community for the project and that it’s “something that actually brings everyone together.”
