A wireless communication apparatus (10) uses a RADAR or LIDAR assembly to scan for obstructions in predefined beam directions relative to a directional antenna (40) and correspondingly classifies each direction as obstructed or unobstructed. Then, at least for communication signal frequencies above a defined frequency threshold, the apparatus (10) configures beamforming at the directional antenna (40) to prioritize beams corresponding to the unobstructed directions, or avoid beams corresponding to the obstructed directions. The beam prioritization or avoidance applies to transmit beamforming, receive beamforming, or both. In one or more implementations, the direction classifications may not be binary. For example, detected obstruction distances along the beam directions may be used to “grade” the respective directions in terms of usage priority, beam adaptations, and/or restrictions on the communication frequencies used.