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Senate bill would fund access to private radar data to fill Minnesota 'radar gaps'
Summary
Senate File 530 would fund access to supplemental radar data from private providers and make that data available to state agencies, local emergency managers and PSAPs to address low‑level coverage gaps in several Minnesota regions; committee heard personal testimony about a fatal incident missed in a radar gap.
Senate File 530, heard March 10, would fund access to supplemental weather-radar data to address “radar gaps” where National Weather Service Doppler beams fail to sample low-level storms. The bill (with an author's A1 amendment adopted in committee) would support a competitive procurement for private radar data and then make that data available to specified state agencies, county emergency managers and public-safety answering points.
Senator Kupik, the bill author, described geographic areas of concern running from southwest Minnesota through Alexandria and up to Bemidji where the curvature of the earth places the radar beam high above the ground at greater distances. Testimony from emergency managers and county officials said the gaps can reach heights where tornadic or other hazardous low-level activity is not visible to existing public radars.
Ace Bonnema, emergency management director (testifying for the Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers) highlighted the 2019 death of Ryan Erickson near Blomkest as an example: he said the radar at the time showed a storm but not indicators strong enough to predict a bin-blowing, life‑threatening event. Hennepin County Emergency Manager Eric Waage testified that 72 counties and eight tribal areas are exposed to radar gaps and that gaps can reach up to roughly 10,000 feet, leaving dangerous low-level phenomena undetected.
Witnesses told the committee the approach would lease radar-as-a-service from private companies rather than buying and operating full S‑band Doppler radars, and the procurement would include maintenance and data delivery. Committee members asked about costs, governance and why a private approach was preferable; witnesses said private providers can deploy and maintain supplemental coverage faster and at lower up‑front cost than the federal radar network, which has a long timetable for upgrades. The committee adopted the A1 amendment and laid the bill over for possible inclusion.
