What effect can weather have on radar?

• A. It can mask or completely hide a target
• B. It changes the color of returns
• C. It has no effect
• D. It improves resolution

Answer: (A)

Weather creates precipitation echoes that clutter the radar display. Those echoes from rain, snow, or hail can be strong enough to overlap with a real target’s returns, making the target hard to detect or completely hidden. In heavy weather, attenuation and scattering further weaken the target signal, reducing range and clarity. So weather can mask or hide a target, which is why that option is the best. The other ideas aren’t as accurate: the display’s color is a mapping choice and isn’t a physical change in the target signal; weather does have an effect, and it typically degrades, not improves, resolution.