ST. LOUIS — Late Wednesday morning, the 5 On Your Side Doppler weather radar was picking up the smoke from a 5-alarm fire at a recycling factory in the Metro East.
Smoke could be seen for miles from the factory, Interco, in Madison, Illinois. Officials said one employee was injured, but no update was given on their current condition. Police are also asking residents within a 1-mile radius of the factory to shelter in place.
The smoke from the fire was visible from St. Louis Lambert International Airport, which is 15 miles from the fire.
In the picture below, the yellow just north and east of downtown St. Louis is the smoke being picked up on the radar.
Doppler radar is mainly used for tracking rain, hail and tornadoes but it can also detect particulates like insects, birds and even smoke from big fires or even wildfires.
This newer technology is called "dual polarization." The traditional Doppler radar would only emit energy in one dimension, but the dual polarization transmits in two dimensions, both horizontal and vertical.
This additional pulse allows the radar to calculate the shape and distributions of particles in the radar's beam.
Wednesday was an excellent example of how the 5 On Your Side Doppler was able to detect smoke from the large fire in the Metro East. In the photo above, you can see the yellow color at 10:30 a.m. when the smoke was rising up into the atmosphere allowing the Doppler to pick it up.