Bay Area weather radar network aims to improve storm forecasting, flood prep and drought planning

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Local, state and federal agencies gathered in San Francisco Thursday to announce a new radar network designed to show where the heaviest rain will fall in the Bay Area.

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission worked with a coalition of Bay Area water, wastewater and flood control agencies on the project.

The network can help with evacuation plans or water resource planning in our drought-prone state.

Martin Ralph, Ph.D., of UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said the existing traditional radar network doesn’t cut it.

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“This is going to help fill that gap in minutes to hours lead time that’s vital to know where the heaviest rain is going to hit,” Ralph said. “And when and what communities are going to be affected so people in the preparedness community and water resource management community can take action to help protect people’s lives and property.”

It’s called the San Francisco Bay Area AQPI Network, which stands for “Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information.” The data provides rainfall updates every 1 to 2 minutes. There are installations, including in Sawyer Ridge in the Peninsula.

Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt, District 2, who is also a Board of Director for Sonoma Water, said this will be especially valuable along the Russian River, which is prone to flooding.

“Having better data to prepare and to pass that information on to residents to start evacuations, if needed, earlier so they’re safer,” Rabbitt said.

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Steve Thur, Ph.D., of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said one of the unique features of the West Coast is how important just a few atmospheric systems are each year for the water supply here.

“So when we think about water storage and flood control, understanding hyper-local precipitation information is certainly terribly important,” Thur said.

Thur said this new Bay Area system could help shape the next generation of radar technology for the entire country.

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The funding for the network came from a nearly $20 million grant from the California Department of Water Resources and was an eight-year effort.