Although SAILS scans are great for base data interrogation, it does cause issues with derived products such as the layered AzShear from a single radar. Here both the 0-2 and 3-6km products have previous scan data still present. This caused the AzShear feature to “split apart” while the circulation itself remained in tact. This seemed to be more of an issue with the 0-2km product but also impacted the 3-6km one.

For some forecasters this may not be a big deal at all but for others having to process in their mind what is going on with the product seemingly split a circulation for no reason can really throw them off or cause unneeded mental anguish (as minor as it may be). In a highly stressful situation such interruptions can mount up over time increasing fatigue or cause forecasters to no longer consider looking at a particular product. I have seen some even turn off SAILS by default so they don’t have to deal with the idiosyncrasies it may cause. This could reduce lead time or cause someone to miss an important feature for “convenience” sake and not for some other valid reason.

— SCoulomb