MIA launches new online weather radar

Malta International Airport has invested in a new weather radar providing Met Office forecasters and website visitors with real-time meteorological data.

Visitors to www.maltairport.com can follow the radar from the weather section, thanks to a colour-coded grading scale that provides for a user-friendly experience.

The radar detects rainfall intensity up to 50 nautical miles around the area of the Maltese Islands.

Through high-resolution imagery and fast data processing, it provides the Met Office with detailed information about rainfall, including early warnings of approaching storms.

Such radars are used by the MIA to advise the Civil Protection Department about storm weather updates as well as aerodrome and civil weather safety alerts.

The radar shows precipitation in millimetres, according to the European MeteoAlarm Warning classification, and tracks the rate of rainfall.

To follow the radar, visitors must be aware that the bright red indicates rainfall at a rate of 100mm per hour while the darkest shade of blue indicates rainfall at the rate of 0.1mm per hour.

Visitors can view the latest radar images via a user panel that allows to play and pause the images being viewed.