he Kearney Gomez Doppler Radar is temporarily unavailable following a hardware failure.

The Cayman Islands National Weather Service (CINWS) confirms its technical team is working closely with the radar manufacturer to isolate the fault and determine a timeline for repairs.

CINWS Director General John Tibbetts says every effort is being made to address the issue.

“Our team is working diligently in collaboration with the radar manufacturer to identify the equipment responsible for the issue. Once we have determined the cause of the issue, we will make every effort to get the radar back up and running. Although we don’t have a timeline for restoring radar service as yet, we are not expecting a long delay.”

Last year, a representative of the radar manufacturer travelled to Grand Cayman to complete a number of essential repairs to the radar equipment and the dome.

While the weather radar is an important asset in the CINWS meteorological toolkit, Mr. Tibbetts says it is complimented by other services and tools.

“The radar helps us monitor meteorological conditions as far as Jamaica, and is helpful for providing small-scale predictions. For tracking storms further afield, we use the Cayman Islands Government’s GOES-R satellite system,” he said.

Ministry of Sustainability & Climate Resiliency Acting Chief Officer Troy Jacob confirmed the radar was in good working order following the manufacturer’s visit last year.

“Following the repairs completed by the manufacturer last year, the radar was performing as it should for quite some time. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to proactively identify hardware issues,” he said. “We understand the affinity and reliance that the public has for the radar, and that there would be frustration in the community when the radar is unavailable. I would like to assure the public that the team at our National Weather Service is doing all they can to restore the radar to full service while continuing to deliver accurate, timely forecasts, advisories and warnings for the country by using the other weather forecasting assets available to us. We intend to keep the country informed of our progress with the radar repairs, and hope to have another update shortly.”