ABERDEEN, Wash. (AP) — The National Weather Service is now getting information from a new Doppler radar station on the Washington coast.
Spokesman Ted Buehner (BEE’-ner) says the station near Copalis Crossing was turned on Wednesday for testing.
When it’s officially in service at the end of next week, forecasters say the radar will give them a better look at incoming Pacific storms and improve predictions of damaging winds and rains. The Olympic mountains block the view of the Doppler radar station on Camano Island.
The new radar station has dual-polarization technology that helps predict the intensity of storms.
The radar stations at Camano Island, Spokane, Portland, and Pendleton, Ore., also are being upgraded. Beuhner says Washington will be the first state in the nation with dual-polarization Doppler radar coverage.
