Weather radar down for repairs

According to Boundary County Public Information Officer Michael Meier, the weather radar used by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Spokane will be down for approximately five days beginning Oct. 30 for technicians to install an important technological upgrade. The work on the WSR-88D has been scheduled to minimize any potential impacts to office operations.

During the outage, radar coverage is available from adjacent radar sites including Seattle, Pendleton, Ore., and Missoula, Mont.

A crew will install a new signal processor, which replaces obsolete technology, improves processing speed and data quality, provides added functionality, and supports IT security.

This is the first of four major upgrades, known as service life extension projects, planned in the next five years to replace and refurbish major components of the 20 year old WSR-88Ds and to keep the radars operational into the 2030s. The $150M investment is being made by the three organizations that use these radars, the NOAA National Weather Service, U.S. Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration. The other service life extension projects include refurbishing the transmitter, pedestal, and equipment shelters.