Weather radar to improve Wash coast forecasts: Grays Harbor area

[Kathy, Salish Sea Trading Coop]

Good news for full coverage of WA coast, but I also found this
fascinating for a peek into what it's like to be a weather spotter.

Excerpt:

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_coast_weather.html

The UW's Mass has long been lobbying for better weather detection from
Grays Harbor and the southwest Washington coast, and is pleased that
$9 million has now been secured to finally build the coastal radar at
one of the three sites now under consideration. A public comment
period on the sites ended April 16 and a construction contract is
scheduled to be awarded by this December. The radar will have a
rotating antenna with a 35-foot fiberglass dome mounted on a steel
lattice tower, rising to between 65 and 98 feet.

Buehner expects the radar will be up and running the fall of 2012.

"To me, that's the most important thing we need," Mass said. "It's
been more than unfortunate that it has taken this long."

While he says the Pacific is "not a complete data void" he notes that
much of the tools that forecasters need - such as the offshore buoys -
often prove unreliable, especially after they have been battered by
severe storms.

"Right now, the further offshore buoys are all red, which means they
are broken and providing no data," Mass said.