Climavision Puts Up New Radars To Fill Florida’s Tornado Warning Blind Spots

Weather detection gaps across Florida will soon shrink as Climavision installs four radar units in key spots. These devices target areas where storm tracking has fallen short.

Sites near Fort Myers, Ocala, Dixie County, and Palm Beach County will host the units. Workers placed the first radar at Lee County's Public Safety Center, marking the firm's 30th setup in the U.S.

"We are an integrated partner of NOAA and NWS and our data is being used in over 30 weather forecasting offices across the country where we have live radars online now," said Tara Leigh Goode, vice president of strategic partnerships & radar operations at Climavision, according to FPREN.

The National Weather Service runs seven Doppler units across Florida in Key West, Miami, Tampa, Melbourne, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and at Eglin Air Force Base. However, their reach stops at 300 miles, creating gaps in coverage.

These gaps have caused problems. Marion County has missed six tornadoes since 2020. In 2022, an EF-2 tornado struck Lee County without warning.

The new units scan roughly 60 miles out, watching spots where current systems can't see. Jennifer Hubbard from the Tampa NWS office noted some limits: "Additional radar coverage is always helpful. The Lee County Emergency Management team has kept us updated with this project, but Climavision is a private company. Their radar is an X-band that has its own limitations, especially with attenuation."

Each unit costs $1 million, funded by private sources rather than public money. The full Florida network should work by mid-2026.