Watching the hurricane come in and I’m trying to figure out what the dBZ ranking means. The equivalent reflectivity factor goes right over my head. Thanks!
In: Planetary Science
Found this explanation that covers it well but I don’t understand it enough to explain but this could help? https://www.reddit.com/r/Radarscope/s/CwVi94dNDz
Edit: what the link says
In the context of meteorology, dBZ (decibels of Z) is a unit of measurement used to describe the reflectivity of radar signals returned from precipitation The higher the dBZ value, the more intense the precipitation. Here’s a breakdown of what dBZ values typically mean:
• Low dBZ values (blue and green colors): Light precipitation
• Higher values (yellow, orange, and red colors): Heavier precipitation
• Values above 45 dBZ: Intense precipitation, often caused by thunderstorms
• Values above 60 dBZ: Heavy precipitation, likely with hail
In summary, dBZ is a logarithmic scale used to measure the intensity of precipitation, with higher values indicating more severe weather conditions.
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