A tribute to the “Father of NEXRAD”

Dale Sirmans

For many in the weather radar community, Dale Sirmans is recognized as the father of the NEXt-Generation RADar (NEXRAD). As the lead engineer and principal architect of NSSL’s first 10-cm Doppler weather radar, his leadership and guidance helped bring Doppler radar to the National Weather Service. Sirmans recently passed away on December 23 in Albertville, Ala., at 76, and we wanted to celebrate his five decades of contributions to weather radar, weather science and to the careers of future engineers and scientists.