Why is there such poor radar coverage southwest of the Olympic Mountains?
A13. The weather radar for western Washington is located on Camano Island, northwest of Everett. The Olympic Mountains, located southwest of the radar site, act as a major obstruction to the radar’s line of view. This keeps the radar from being able to “see” weather on the other side of the Olympic Mountains. The other side, in this case, is the southwest Olympic peninsula, including Grays Harbor County, western Jefferson County, and the adjacent Pacific waters. This explains the pie-shaped region of missing data near the central Washington coast. Efforts are underway to fill the gap in coastal radar coverage. The matter is currently in the hands of Congress.
