By King                                               H.C.R. No. 46
       74R4180 MPC-D
                                 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-1        WHEREAS, The National Weather Service is in the process of
    1-2  replacing its outdated weather survival radar system with Next
    1-3  Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), the latest in weather radar
    1-4  technology, but with its decision to close the Hondo radar site and
    1-5  place NEXRAD in the New Braunfels area, it is jeopardizing the
    1-6  safety of those Texans who live along the Texas-Mexico border
    1-7  between Del Rio and Laredo; and
    1-8        WHEREAS, NEXRAD, which operates on Doppler technology, is
    1-9  capable of monitoring precipitation as well as tracking potentially
   1-10  dangerous air movements, enabling scientists to predict with
   1-11  greater accuracy the likelihood of violent weather and more
   1-12  importantly, providing scientists added lead time to notify the
   1-13  public of potential danger; and
   1-14        WHEREAS, Historically a site for severe storm activity, the
   1-15  southwestern region of the state is greatly affected by the
   1-16  ultimate location of the region's NEXRAD facility; consolidation of
   1-17  current facilities from Austin, Hondo, and San Antonio to a new
   1-18  site near New Braunfels as the National Weather Service has
   1-19  proposed will deny the citizens who live between Del Rio and Laredo
   1-20  the extensive overlapping coverage that is currently available to
   1-21  citizens throughout the rest of the state and could render the
   1-22  entire region defenseless should its single radar facility be
   1-23  disabled; and
   1-24        WHEREAS, With a major fiber-optic cable service already in
    2-1  place, the city of Hondo possesses the special technology necessary
    2-2  to support NEXRAD, and placement of this radar in Hondo would
    2-3  provide the extra layer of coverage necessary to protect this key
    2-4  area from the perils of unforeseen violent weather; and
    2-5        WHEREAS, The major storm that struck Bexar County on May 5,
    2-6  1983, catching most weather forecasters off guard and resulting in
    2-7  the death of three people, originated in the hills across the
    2-8  border in Mexico and came through the region where the gap of
    2-9  single coverage will be in the current National Weather Service
   2-10  plan for the NEXRAD system; and
   2-11        WHEREAS, A recent Florida State University study determined
   2-12  that East Texas, which has single Doppler radar coverage like that
   2-13  found in the West Texas-Mexico border region, has inadequate radar
   2-14  coverage; upgrading the Hondo weather radar to Doppler would
   2-15  provide double coverage to an area that is as large or larger than
   2-16  the East Texas region referenced by the Florida State University
   2-17  study; and
   2-18        WHEREAS, It is imperative that the National Weather Service
   2-19  reconsider its NEXRAD system coverage along the border for the
   2-20  safety of thousands of citizens who live in the southwestern region
   2-21  of Texas; now, therefore, be it
   2-22        RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas
   2-23  hereby urge the Congress of the United States to encourage the
   2-24  National Weather Service to upgrade the existing weather radar in
   2-25  Hondo to the NEXRAD system for the protection of the lives and
   2-26  property of those who reside in the southwestern region of Texas;
   2-27  and, be it further
    3-1        RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
    3-2  copies of this resolution to the National Weather Service, to the
    3-3  speaker of the house of representatives and president of the senate
    3-4  of the United States Congress, and to all members of the Texas
    3-5  delegation to the congress with the request that it be officially
    3-6  entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress
    3-7  of the United States of America.