A NEXRAD WSR-88D weather radar in South Carolina, the United States, operated by National Weather Service, NOAA.
- Station
- Columbia (KCAE)
- Site
- West Columbia
- Operator
- National Weather Service, NOAA
- Network
- NEXRAD WSR-88D
- Antenna
- 33.949° N, 81.119° W, 231 ft (70 m) above sea level
- Products
- Reflectivity, composite reflectivity, echo tops, vertically integrated liquid, velocity, correlation coefficient, differential reflectivity, specific differential phase (KDP), spectrum width
KCAE is the Columbia, South Carolina WSR-88D weather radar. It stands in West Columbia, in Lexington County, about 10 km southwest of downtown Columbia and 4.5 km from Cayce. The National Weather Service owns and operates it, and the NWS Columbia forecast office at 2909 Aviation Way in West Columbia is responsible for it.
In February 2023 the radar was down for about two weeks while technicians replaced the pedestal that turns and tilts the antenna, the third major project of the NEXRAD Service Life Extension Program. The radome was lifted off by crane for the work and put back afterwards. The office names Greenville-Spartanburg, Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, Charleston, Robins AFB and Peachtree City as the radars to use when KCAE is down.
Radar shows rain, snow and hail, not cloud, and nothing below its lowest beam; far from the antenna the beam passes high above the ground.