NWS image of radar composite showing new coastal radar at Langley Hill and current radar on Camano Island at 8:30 a.m.

Story Created:& Aug 22, 2011 at 12:55 PM PDT &

Story Updated:& Aug 22, 2011 at 6:01 PM PDT& &

The new coastal radar is scheduled to be officially put in service in about five weeks (Sept. 30) but it's already giving a sneak peek at how it'll be a much bigger help to forecasters.

The National Weather Service Seattle office said Monday it was using some of the test data from the radar to help issue a urban flooding advisory for the coast.

Here is the whole article that crossed on the AP:

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SEATTLE (AP) - A new radar station on the Washington coast helped the National Weather Service issue a flood advisory Monday for the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula.

A meteorologist at the office in Seattle, Carl Cerniglia, said the Doppler radar near Ocean Shores was being tested Monday and it confirmed heavy rain on the way.

He says, "We saw what they had already and we saw what they had offshore, and it lent confidence in us issuing that advisory."

Small streams could flood in western Clallam and Jefferson counties and parts of Grays Harbor County because of 2-to-3 inches of rain expected in the area by 7 p.m. Monday. By noon, 2.25 inches had fallen at Quillayute, near Forks. The one-day record at Quillayute for Aug. 22 is 2.39 set in 1975.