Peninsula Daily News News Services

LAPUSH — President Obama’s proposed 2010 budget includes $7 million for a Doppler weather-radar system to improve forecasting of storms approaching the Olympic Peninsula.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Mountlake Terrace, said the new weather system would expand coverage of storms up to about 102 miles off Washington’s coast.

The senator said she will push for the money.

Cantwell is the chairwoman of the Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee.

She said an improved weather radar system would provide communities from Aberdeen to LaPush and inland across Clallam County with better information about severe weather and storms that could impact the local economy, businesses, homes and safety.

“Despite having the worst non-tropical storms in the nation, Washington state has the worst weather radar coverage of any U.S. coastline,” Cantwell said in a statement late last week.

“This is just the beginning of a long road ahead to secure funding for the system, but it’s a critical step.

“I will continue pushing until we have a weather radar system that provides accurate and full-scale information about storms that could severely impact Washingtonians.”

The 2008 Omnibus spending bill, passed through Congress earlier this year, secured funding for a study into how best to address the weather radar gap in Washington state.

The findings of the report are expected to be released later this month.