A couple of years ago, I posted about a new radar on Washington's coast near Aberdeen proposed by the National Weather service. Now, more than two years later, the new radar will finally be up and running next Friday. The only other radars in this region are one in Portland and one Camano Island, which is partially blocked by the Olympic Mountain range. Now we'll have more accurate predictions for how much rain will fall on short notice. This kind of accuracy could have helped people prepare better for the Chehalis River floods in 2007. The radar can take readings as far away as 240 miles off the coast. It is also a dual radar, the first in the nation, which can measure incoming clouds vertically as well as horizontally. It cost $9 million, $2 million more than the proposed cost.

It's fitting, since today is the first day of fall and our rainy season will start in the coming months. We've been warned that this could be another La Niña year, with a wetter and colder winter, but we'll see what happens. For now, we'll enjoy the new fall weather.