A NEXRAD WSR-88D weather radar in Alaska, the United States, operated by Federal Aviation Administration.
- Station
- Sitka (PACG)
- Site
- Biorka Island
- Operator
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Network
- NEXRAD WSR-88D
- Antenna
- 56.853° N, 135.529° W, 207 ft (63 m) above sea level
- Products
- Reflectivity, composite reflectivity, echo tops, vertically integrated liquid, velocity, correlation coefficient, differential reflectivity, specific differential phase (KDP), spectrum width
PACG is the NEXRAD weather radar for Sitka, in southeast Alaska. The antenna stands on Biorka Island, just southwest of Sitka, about 25 km from the town; the National Weather Service calls it the Biorka Island radar.
It is a WSR-88D and the radar the NWS forecast office in Juneau uses. The NEXRAD Radar Operations Center lists it as Sitka FAA, one of the 12 radars in its Federal Aviation Administration group, with Juneau as the responsible office; it is the only radar the center lists under that office. The Juneau office itself describes the radar as one the NOAA National Weather Service operates.
In June 2017 the office described the radar as about 20 years old when a new signal processor was installed, the first of four service life extension projects funded by NOAA, the Air Force and the FAA. In August 2019 its transmitter was refurbished, replacing breakers and cables original to the radar. Juneau, Petersburg, Kake and Hoonah are the larger places nearby, all more than 95 km from the antenna.
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.