Dome In Place Atop New Coastal Doppler Tower

Workers have lifted the dome into place atop a tower housing the new coastal Doppler radar facility, a key step in bringing new forecasting technology online.

"Now they're going to be structuring the interior portion of the radar itself," said KIRO 7 chief meteorologist Rebecca Stevenson.

"The weather service is being very careful with the details of upgrading our radar to dual-polarization so that when it does go into operation, we will all benefit from the ability to see a storm's inner structure sooner. Here in the KIRO 7 Weather Center, we are looking forward to being able to warn coastal residents in time to take action."

"To see the dome in place is very exciting!" said meteorologist Sam Argier. "We can't wait to show viewers new radar imagery of incoming storms. For the first time, KIRO 7 StormTracker will be able to pick up rain falling west of the Olympic Mountains. This is a valuable forecast tool that will allow us to provide better warnings when storms move into our area."

"The radar will not be active for several months, however, because of required testing and calibration," wrote KIRO 7 meteorologist Morgan Palmer in an earlier article.

"It will fill a critical gap in weather radar coverage. The current "Seattle radar" emits a radar beam from Camano Island, and while it provides excellent coverage of the Puget Sound, the beam is blocked to the southwest by the Olympic Mountains," he said. "We often see our strongest coastal storms moving in off the Pacific from the southwest. Presently, we have to rely on satellite imagery which shows us cloud features, but not where it is raining and how heavily."

"It will have what's called dual polarization technology -- which for the first time will allow us to see not only incoming storms, but what's inside them: hail, snow or rain, and more accurate estimates of how much inside," said Stevenson.

WATCH IT: The Dual Polarization Difference