By GvilleTX Newsroom
Saint Jo has scheduled a public preview for a planned local weather radar on Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, at the Saint Jo water tower, a project city officials say is meant to close a radar gap and give Saint Jo and nearby communities a clearer view of storms. The Weather Radar Preview is set for 4 to 6 p.m. at 306 E. Howell Street, according to a Saint Jo announcement shared by the Saint Jo Chamber of Commerce.
The announcement describes the project as a partnership between the City of Saint Jo and Climavision to install a new gap-filling radar in the community. City officials said the radar is intended to improve weather visibility for Saint Jo and surrounding areas.
For Cooke County readers, the local meaning is reach. Climavision says its gap-filling radars can serve a host county and neighboring communities up to about 60 miles away, giving the project potential value beyond the water tower site if the Saint Jo system follows that model.
Climavision identified Montague County in March as one of eight remaining Texas radar gaps and said Montague County had a public-private partnership with the company awaiting installation. The company said six of the Texas gaps already had been filled by privately operated systems, including sites in Lamar County and Brazos County through Texas A&M.
Climavision says its Texas partnerships use local infrastructure such as water towers or rooftops. Under that model, the company says it installs, owns, operates and maintains the radar.
The planned Saint Jo radar would supplement the federal radar network, not replace official weather channels for warnings. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information describes NEXRAD as a national Doppler radar network operated by the National Weather Service, the FAA and the U.S. Air Force. In a 2023 Texas release, Climavision said official warnings and notices would continue through National Weather Service channels while its radars provide added visibility for forecasters and emergency officials.
The coverage issue, according to Climavision, is tied to how radar beams rise farther above the ground as they travel from a radar site. The company said that can leave rural Texas areas with less low-level data for hazards that form close to the ground.
Federal agencies also are assessing the private network. NOAA's Technology Partnerships Office lists a 2023-2028 assessment of Climavision's radar network for low-altitude precipitation monitoring and detection of hazards including tornadoes and hail. The National Weather Service said in 2024 that it completed a multi-year program to extend the life of the NEXRAD radars used for severe-weather warnings.
Other Texas installations give a sense of how the Saint Jo project could work. Texas A&M says a Climavision radar installed at College Station in 2024 was meant to address the Bryan-College Station radar gap. In Reno, in Lamar County, Climavision said a radar installed on a city water tower in 2023 gave local emergency management and government officials access to real-time data.
The Saint Jo event is listed as a preview. The verified materials for this report did not include a final installation date for the radar.
_Editor's note: Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law._
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