Momentum is building for a new coastal weather radar in Washington state that proponents say could dramatically improve forecasts, prevent millions of dollars in storm-related damages and even save lives.

Though Washington gets some of the most extreme weather in the country, it’s considered to be among the worst areas in the nation for coastal radar coverage. That could soon change—President Obama’s proposed budget includes $7 million for a Doppler weather radar system for Washington state.

The need for such a system is the focus of a public meeting in Seattle next Thursday hosted by Sen. Maria Cantwell, who has been advocating for better weather radar in Washington. The meeting will include the public release of a study commissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is expected to affirm the need for coastal radar in the state.

Cantwell spokeswoman Ciaran Clayton said the senator became acutely aware of the issue after the December 2007 storms along the coast of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia that caused landslides and massive flooding, killed more than a dozen people and fully submerged a stretch of Interstate 5.

“That really hit it home,” Clayton said. “When (Cantell) found out that Washington state has some of the most severe weather in the country but lacks the weather systems that Florida and Louisiana have, she knew something had to be done about it.”

The Washington and Oregon coasts currently have no radar, though severe storms and hurricane-force winds are not uncommon in either area. The Northwest’s two radar weather stations are situated on Camano Island, Wash., and in Portland, Ore. Radar beams from the stations are blocked by the Olympic and Coast Range mountains, limiting forecasters’ ability to see details about weather systems approaching the coast and allowing major storms to hit with little warning.

Even without the mountains, the radars are too far inland to provide useful information about weather approaching the coast. The result, says meteorologist and University of Washington professor Cliff Mass, is an inability to warn residents about approaching storms and obtain real-time information during severe weather.

During the 2007 storms, “One of the problems was that we didn’t know what was happening at the time. The Weather Service and everyone else didn’t understand how heavy the rain was,” Mass said.

The National Weather Service estimates total costs of about $10 million for a coastal radar system in Washington. Mass said the system would have paid for itself during the 2007 storm alone by providing detailed information about both what was currently happening and what the flood and damage risks were.

“There would have been enough time to have saved many, many millions of dollars of assets,” he said. “The radar could pay for itself in one storm.”

The Northwest has a history of severe weather incidents. The Columbus Day storm of 1962 slammed the region with winds exceeding 150 miles an hour. Forty-six people died in Washington and Oregon, and damages were estimated at the time to total $250 million.

In 1979, winds gusting up to 120 miles an hour destroyed the Hood Canal Bridge, which cost more than $100 million to replace.

On Feb. 13, 1979, heavy winds caused the west side of the Hood Canal Bridge to collapse.

Mass has long been sounding the drumbeat about the need for coastal weather radar in Washington and Oregon, citing both economic and lifesaving benefits. His campaign has garnered support from a broad group of constituents, ranging from environmentalists to boaters, foresters to fishermen.

Brad Colman, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service’s Seattle office, acknowledged the need for coastal radar in the region and said the Weather Service supports the proposal.

“We know that there are (radar coverage) holes in the West,” Colman said. “We’ve recently been talking about 15 areas west of the Mississippi that have really poor coverage.”

The Camano Island and Portland radars were installed in the early 1990s, when the National Weather Service added Doppler weather radars across the country. Washington’s radar was purchased jointly by the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Authority and NOAA, which oversees the National Weather Service.

The three agencies had competing priorities, Colman said—the Department of Defense wanted radar coverage for its military bases, while the FAA was concerned about coverage for Sea-Tac airport. A proposal to install radar on the coast “would have been soundly rejected,” Colman said.

“We all had our own priority list, and it wasn’t just weather forecasting.”

The current radar system, Colman pointed out, is a vast improvement on what was in place before the 1990s. “We had no weather radar in Western Washington,” he said. “To even bring one state-of-the-science radar was a huge boon here.

“What the deployment did in the early ‘90s was cover the United States relatively well. The country has the greatest radar network in the world, and we don’t want to lose sight of that.”

Obama’s budget must still be approved by Congress. Cantwell has secured a $2 million down-payment toward a coastal radar system for Washington, which, combined with the president’s $7 million appropriation, would almost cover the costs for the project.

Colman said the Weather Service plans to start looking at potential sites for the radar this summer. “Assuming the budget is approved and the $7 million is still there, we’re going to go ahead,” he said.

The public forum will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon Thursday, May 28 at the National Weather Service’s Seattle headquarters, located at 7600 Sand Point Way NE. Parking is free, but participants are advised to allow time to get through security. Picture identification is required.

Space is limited. To reserve seats, email coastalradar@cantwell.senate.gov

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About Deborah Bach

Deborah Bach is the editor and co-founder of Three Sheets Northwest. She is an avid sailor and long-time professional journalist. You can find Deborah aboard Three Sheets, an Island Packet 38, with her husband Marty and their cat Lily.

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