Quietly, at an office at the North Carolina State University Centennial Campus, a team of scientists is using radar technology to predict the next severe weather event – and their team is growing.
Climavision, based in Louisville, Kentucky, is building out its Raleigh operation. Chris Goode, CEO and founder, said the stakes for success are getting higher as climate change increases the impact of severe storms – not just in North Carolina but around the globe.
The need for accurate weather forecasts has never been higher, he said. That’s why, armed with $100 million in capital, his firm is launching a radar system that could save lives.
Prior to Climavision, Goode had been in the weather industry for three decades – working as a weather forecaster for the air force, at the Weather Channel and even leading a radar manufacturing firm.
“Each of those stops, we were all trying to accomplish creating a better forecast,” he said. But it’s hard to stand out when most firms are using the same publicly-available datasets.
Most companies rely on the Next Generation Weather Radar – NEXRAD, a network of 160 high-resolution Doppler weather radars jointly operated by the National Weather Service, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Air Force, detecting precipitation and wind.
But unbeknownst to most casual weather observers, 65 percent of the U.S. is “completely uncovered by the existing network,” Goode said. The farther away a location is from a radar station, the higher that beam of energy is. Couple that with the curvature of the earth and gaps are created -– making it tough to predict low altitude weather events such as tornadoes.
Goode founded Climavision to solve the problem with a new radar network to fill those gaps. In 2021, Climavision launched out of radar manufacturer Enterprise Electronics Corporation with a $100 million investment from TPG.
Goode said that he gave up a lot of personal equity in the raise – but said it will be worth it. The investments Climavision is making in radar technologies are costly. But so is the barrier to entry to any future competitor. Already, Climavision has deployed 12 radars, with plans to be at 30 by the end of the year and 50 by summer 2024. The goal is to get to 200 in the next three and a half years.
“There’s an early mover advantage to what we’re doing, because if somebody did want to enter the market, it would be difficult to make a rationale to supplicate what we’re doing because we’ve already done it,” he said.
Climavision crunches all the data – including what’s already available through public sources and low earth orbiting satellite partners, and feeds it into the engine it’s built that creates the forecasts.
The first “notable gap” the system filled was across the Piedmont Region of North Carolina. Climavision launched radars in High Point, Denver (outside of Charlotte) and another in Wagram.
Climavision targets media outlets – WXII in Winston-Salem and WBTV in Charlotte both use the technology – as well as customers in energy, government and aviation sectors.
Goode’s ambitions are high. A changing climate has created a greater sense of urgency around accurate forecasting – and that means more opportunity ahead for the firms that can see the bad weather coming.
The company opened the office at Centennial Campus a year ago to be close to university-fueled science talent. Right now, eight of the 40-person team is based in Raleigh, but Goode said that number is growing. The plan is to add at least another five people this year in the Triangle.
“It’s a great place to recruit,” he said.
The Triangle office primarily houses scientists and marketers, he said.
