Hail radar installed above the Chu farmland

NURZHAN — The ISEZ hydrometeorological service has installed a weather radar on the summit of the hill above Kök-Döbö, south-east of Nurzhan, to track hailstorms over the farmland of the Chu lowlands.

From the hilltop, the radar looks out over the irrigated plain toward the Moiynkum. The service said it would detect storms as they build over the mountains to the south and give warnings to farms, the district administration and the agricultural authorities. It did not disclose the cost.

Hail is the summer fear of Chu farmers. A single storm can strip a field of cotton or flatten wheat and sugar beet in minutes, and growers said several hailstorms this summer had damaged crops already hit by the disruption of last year's fighting. "If we know an hour before, we can at least get the machinery and the people under cover," said a farm manager near Kök-Döbö.

Kök-Döbö, a village of about 1,100 people on a low hill on the southern side of the lowlands, saw the radar dome lifted onto its tower by crane last week. The service said the radar would begin regular operation before next spring's growing season.