Coastal Flood Advisory

We were expecting this... The NWS has just issued a Coastal Flood Advisory.... Due to the low barometer, the tide will be at least 9" higher than predicted... The incredible amount of rain we have had overnight contributes to this fluctuation at well. High tide in Hansville is at 9:13am on a predicted level of 11.14'. We could see 12' tides this morning....

..COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST TODAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST TODAY.

* COASTAL FLOODING...MINOR FLOODING IS POSSIBLE ALONG THE SHORELINES DURING THE MORNING HIGH TIDE WEDNESDAY.

* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS...ALL OF PUGET SOUND FROM TACOMA AND SEATTLE NORTH TO THE ADMIRALTY INLET AREA WILL HAVE UNUSUALLY HIGH TIDES. SHORELINES ALONG HOOD CANAL WILL ALSO BE AFFECTED.

* TIMING...THE MORNING HIGH TIDE WEDNESDAY IS AROUND 9 TO 10 AM. WATER WILL BE UNUSUALLY HIGH FOR AN HOUR OR SO EACH SIDE OF HIGH TIDE.

* TIDE INFO...DEEP LOW PRESSURE OVER THE AREA WILL PRODUCE TIDES HIGHER THAN THE TIDE TABLES. CURRENT ANOMALIES ARE ABOUT 1.5 FEET ABOVE PREDICTIONS. THE ANOMALIES AROUND THE TIME OF HIGH TIDE WILL BE 1.5 TO 2.0 FEET ABOVE PREDICTIONS.

* IMPACTS...FLOODING DUE TO MINOR TIDAL OVERFLOW. LOW LYING AREAS NEXT TO THE WATER COULD GET A FEW INCHES OF TIDAL OVERFLOW THIS MORNING. THIS INCLUDES SOME ROADS AND PARKING LOTS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY INDICATES THAT WINDS AND WAVES AT HIGH TIDE COULD COMBINE TO GENERATE FLOODING OF LOW AREAS ALONG THE SHORELINE.

Rain, Winds and Tides

The NWS just updated their discussion with information from the 3:00 model run.  There is some interesting stuff in it.....  Especially good news for Pluviophiles... (Rain Lovers)  We are settling into about 24 hours of an "Atmospheric River" that is being fed with moisture from just north of Hawaii...  Rainfall amounts will be impressive.  This afternoon was the appetizer....  Hourly rainfall rates have been running about .25 to .5 inches per hour off the coast.  One to two inches of rain between now and tomorrow afternoon here is not out of the question...  But wait...  There's more....  The wind has been screaming all around us.  There has not been a Port Townsend ferry run today.  All runs have been cancelled due to high winds...  Yet we have not been affected.  This is due to the Olympic Wind Shadow...  It is coming from just the right direction so we can hide behind the Olympics.  This could change at any time though...  A little tweak in direction and we will have some wind.... As if this isn't interesting enough, the barometer is dropping like a rock and tomorrow morning at 9:13 we will have an 11.14' high tide.  A low barometer and high "king" tides are a bad combination.  Right now the barometer is at 29.51" or 1000mb and falling rapidly.  At this rate, the actual tide will be at or above the 12 foot level.  The NWS has issued a coastal flood advisory for the San Juans and Bellingham area.  Something worth watching...  On my site I have a tidal adjustment number that shows the impact of barometric pressure on the tides.  Right now the tides are 5" higher than predicted.

This graph shows how fast the barometer is dropping....

Typically, the wind begins when the barometer starts going up.... It could be a long 24 hours...

Surfs Up In The Sky....

The sky was beautiful this morning.  The cause is a big wind shear at cloud level.  This creates a unique cloud called Kelvin-Helmhotz.  When two different layers of air are moving at different speeds in the atmosphere, a “wave” will often form.  When the upper layers of air are moving at higher speeds, they can scoop the top of the cloud layer below into wave like structures.  

The conditions are just right today for this phenomenon.  Lots of instability and wind shear.  The winds are really cookin’ north of us right now.  The Port Townsend ferry is shut down due to high winds.  There are Gale Warnings up for Admiralty Inlet and Small Craft Warnings for Puget Sound/ Hood Canal.  Lots of rain and wind coming tonight too….

Update 2:00pm:  The Port Townsend 2:00 run has been cancelled.  So far every run today has been cancelled due to high winds.

Here is a 3 cam time lapse of this morning....  HD Link Here: Panorama Time Lapse

 

Hansville Heat Wave....

Wow.... The temp went off the charts today... High so far is 49.9.... c'mon... one more tenth of a degree to hit 50.... What a heat wave.... :)

Unidentified Flying Object.... Until We Can Identify It....

Every morning I review all the time lapse videos that are made overnight by each camera. Primarily I am looking for meteors, lightning, northern lights or anything unusual. This morning I found something unusual…. And …. If it is in the sky and I can’t identify it.... by definition it is an Unidentified Flying Object…. 😉  In this image on the left hand side there are 2 streaks of light. If they were parallel, I would attribute them to a small plane or helicopter. I see these all the time. But... as you can see, they are not parallel. I can’t explain this one…. Anybody have any thoughts? Or…. Are we just looking at an Unidentified Flying Object….. 😉  Be sure to click on the image to see it full size.

What a beautiful calm day today.... Not a ripple on the water. Looks like things are going to change pretty quick and in a big way.... Here is a snippet from the 3:00 NWS Discussion:

"A pattern change will bring wetter, warmer and windier weather back to Western Washington. This change will take place on Monday as a strong jet lines up over WA. Strong, moist westerly flow will continue through Tuesday and Wednesday and models are ramping up the precip totals in the mountains. Heavy rainfall, with rising snow levels, may cause river flooding."

New Blog For SkunkBayWeather

This past week I gave a presentation at the North Kitsap Puget Sound Anglers meeting.  During the Q&A I mentioned that I use Facebook almost like a blog and also use Twitter.  I explained how you can just go to the SkunkBayWeather page and like it and you would then get all of my posts.  I looked around the room and saw a lot of “Deer In The Headlight” looks…..  There are a LOT of folks who do not want a Facebook account.  Actually, I think most of the folks who visit my site are in this category.  I respect that....  I have also thought about this for quite some time.  I put a lot of content up on Facebook and Twitter and it adds a new dimension to SkunkBayWeather.  The folks without Facebook and Twitter accounts are missing this. 

I suppose I could configure my site to have an easy way for me to update new content like I do on Facebook.  The downside here is that it would not have the capability of interaction.  That’s half the fun.  Giving folks a chance to comment and for me to respond has been very enjoyable….  There are so many things to share.  I really like to keep it light with a little humor too.

I finally decided to put together a blog this weekend. This seems to be a good solution.  I can put a link on my site directly into the blog.  I can post easily and the readers can make comments.  No need for a Facebook account or any account for that matter.  Comments can be made anonymously.  However, this will be moderated by me and comments will not be published until I authorize them.  A Google account is easiest, but not necessary.  I would prefer that folks who comment sign in through a variety of means or at least leave a name/user name of some sort in their comment.  I’d like to know who is making what comment.  This opens the door for a “Weather Community” to grow and have a lively exchange of thoughts, humor and an appreciation of Nature.

So….  If you are reading this, you are on my blog.  I copied and pasted a few simple posts I put up on Facebook recently.  Nothing really weather related, but recent posts.  Just like on Facebook, if there is nothing of substance, I don’t post.  I could “go dark” for a week or two….  Or I may have a half dozen posts in a day….  It’s all “Weather Related”… 😉

This is all a new adventure and I am looking forward to hearing from you.