MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Friday morning marked a huge milestone for the National Weather Service office here in Mobile and for everyone on the Gulf Coast. The radar pedestal has been in much need of replacing, and the day finally came.

If you are driving down Airport Blvd., you probably have notice that giant soccer ball-like object on a big stand next to the airport. That is the KMOB radar site. This is the radar site having the dome removed in order to complete repairs on the pedestal:

Jason Beaman, the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service office in Mobile, stressed the importance of this upgrade for our community.

He stated, “We are a federal government agency with a mission of protecting life and property, and this radar is a big part of that process of protecting life and property.”

He is also happy to know that “hard earned tax payer dollars are going to good use for us to help protect and serve the community.”

This process of changing the radar pedestal will take about two weeks to complete. It has been around 20 years since the last time the pedestal was replaced. This will extend the life of the radar into the 2030s. The crew completing the repairs on our radar has done repairs like this one at 60 other radar sites across the country.