THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412090585
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
North Carolinians have one last chance to protest the closing of National Weather Service offices in Cape Hatteras and three other communities.
Some think the sophisticated Doppler radar network that largely will replace the offices won't provide adequate forecasting for their area.
Cape Hatteras, Charlotte, Asheville and Greensboro - all scheduled to close in the late 1990s - must rely on Doppler radar based in other cities.
A Doppler radar in Greer, S.C., between Greenville and Spartanburg, will take over forecasting and storm warnings for the Charlotte area within a year.
Meteorologist Ray Boylan of WSOC-TV in Charlotte said he thinks the radar 80 miles to the southwest in Greer will leave a gap over the largest city in the Carolinas.
``This is what their site survey is telling them,'' Boylan said Wednesday. He wants the radar moved 20 to 25 miles northeast, closer to Charlotte.
The gap includes Charlotte/
Douglas International Airport, the nation's 14th-largest in terms of airplane traffic. Aviation director Jerry Orr couldn't be reached for comment.
Weather service officials disagree. They say the Doppler radar will substantially improve forecasting for Charlotte.
``We feel confident in the layout we created,'' said Bob Chartuk of the weather service's regional office in Bohemia, N.Y.
Chartuk said the Doppler issue is why the U.S. Commerce Department, parent agency of the weather service, decided to ask local residents for their concerns one last time. The weather service decided 10 years ago to close 97 offices nationwide as part of a $4 billion modernization plan.
The department is asking for people to point out situations where ``current weather services may be degraded as existing radars are decommissioned or as field offices are closed, consolidated, automated or relocated.''
The Commerce Department will take comments through Jan. 3. by CNB