All about the West Seattle neighborhood around Beach Drive
We’ve had some waves coming over since around noon and building towards high tide which just passed minutes ago. This video is from about an hour ago. We have had to fire up the big ol’ trash pumps since this video.
I have more pictures and videos on Facebook. Hope you’re staying safe and not having too much trouble with the waves.
Good morning, Neighbors! Well the wind and rain is just starting to pick up along Beach Drive in West Seattle. We just passed low tide and are now on our way to an estimated 11.71 feet at 2:06 pm today.
Here’s a peek a the current forecast from Wind Alert.
The Puget Sound Marine Forecast (updated at 8:38 am) has a Gale Warning in effect through this evening.
S wind 20 to 30 kt rising to 35 to 45 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft building to 6 to 8 ft in the afternoon. Rain in the morning then rain likely in the afternoon.
The National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Warning. This was last updated at 3:29 a.m. I’m surprised it hasn’t been updated yet this morning…maybe they’re stalling to get a better read on pending storm? At 7:54 a.m. the NWS added a Special Weather Statement warning of a higher risk of landslides. Here’s the wind warning;
...HIGH WIND WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 PM PST THIS EVENING... * WIND...South to southeast wind 25 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph. * SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS...Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, and Bremerton. * TIMING...Winds will increase rapidly Thursday morning with the strongest gusts expected for a few hours Thursday afternoon. * IMPACTS...Snapped tree branches and downed trees along with some power outages. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A High Wind Warning means a hazardous high wind event is expected or occurring. Sustained wind speeds of at least 40 mph or gusts of 58 mph or more can lead to property damage.
Bottom line, our plans have not changed since last night. We are preparing to flood and possibly lose power… the joys of living on Puget Sound! If you still have any patio furniture or other potential projectiles outside, you may want to secure them. Charge up your cell phones and have some candles ready. Stay safe, Neighbors!
Anytime we have waves predicted at 7 feet combined with high tides, it’s likely we’ll issue a barking dog report. This is a lengthy post so if you want the “bottom line”, we are preparing for the possibility of flooding around the second high tide tomorrow (11.79 feet at 2:44 pm). If we see anything near the currently predicted 7 foot waves, we could see water coming over our bulkhead starting around lunchtime. If you have a waterfront home along Beach Drive, you may want to prepare for potential flooding. With the strong winds that are predicted, we could see power outages as well.
Here’s what Wind Alert has currently (as of 8:40 am 12/19/18) predicted for Thursday:
And here are the predicted tides for Puget Sound:
High tides for Thursday, December 20, 2018 are 11.27 at 4:30 am and 11.79 at 2:44 pm. According to wind alert, we could see gusts in the mid to upper 40s approaching the afternoon high tide.
I’ve been stalling on this post waiting for updated forecast… here we go!
Puget Sound Marine Forecast has issued a small craft advisory in effect until 4:00 pm this afternoon and a gale warning from tonight through tomorrow at 4:00 pm.
THU S wind 25 to 35 kt rising to 30 to 40 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 4 to 7 ft. Rain in the morning then rain likely in the afternoon.
THU NIGHT SW wind 25 to 35 kt easing to 15 to 25 kt after midnight. Wind waves 4 to 6 ft subsiding to 2 to 4 ft after midnight.
The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for tomorrow. Note: the local Seattle forecast from the NWS shows gusts as high as 50 mph tomorrow.
...HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM TO 7 PM PST THURSDAY...
The National Weather Service in Seattle has issued a High Wind
Warning, which is in effect from 7 AM to 7 PM PST Thursday. The
High Wind Watch is no longer in effect.
* WIND…South to southeast wind 25 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60
mph.
* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS…Ferndale, Bellingham, Sandy Point,
Anacortes, Friday Harbor, Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, Everett,
and Bremerton.
* TIMING…Winds will increase rapidly Thursday morning with the
strongest gusts expected for a few hours Thursday afternoon.
This is not expected to be a prolonged event.
* IMPACTS…Snapped tree branches and downed trees along with
local power outages.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A High Wind Warning means a hazardous high wind event is expected
or occurring. Sustained wind speeds of at least 40 mph or gusts
of 58 mph or more can lead to property damage.
City of Seattle forecast:
TONIGHT…Breezy. Cloudy with a chance of rain. Lows in the 40s. East wind 10 to 15 mph becoming south 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph after midnight.
THURSDAY…Very windy. Rain. Rainfall amounts a quarter to a half inch possible. Highs in the lower to mid 50s. South wind 15 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 mph increasing to 25 to 40 mph with gusts to 60 mph in the afternoon.
THURSDAY NIGHT…Windy. Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain in the evening, then partly cloudy with a slight chance of rain showers after midnight. Lows in the 30s to lower 40s. Southwest wind 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph decreasing to 10 to 15 mph after midnight.
We will be spending today getting our home ready for strong winds, potential flooding and loss of power. Mother Nature showed us yesterday with the tornado that touched down in Port Orchard that she is nothing to mess around with.
Of course, forecast can and do change – be sure to stay tuned!
The National Weather Service has just issued a “High Wind Watch” from 10 am through
6pm Friday…check out how someone spelled Bellevue below 😉 This is right in time
for high tide which is predicted to be at 11.72 feet at 10:12 am Friday.
1143 AM PST Thu Dec 13 2018
…HIGH WIND WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH
FRIDAY EVENING…
* WIND…South wind potentially 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph.
* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS…Seattle, Bellview, Tacoma and
Bremerton.
* TIMING…10 AM Friday morning through 6 PM Friday evening.
Currently, Wind Alert’s predictions are not as exciting as what the National Weather Service’s Wind Watch.
This time of year, Scupper and I start to feel a bit like “Chicken Little” with all
of our warnings and Barking Dog Reports…we feel it’s always better to be safe than
sorry when it comes to dealing with Mother Nature.
Stay tuned!
Our neighborhood barking dog is whimpering again tonight with the strong winds that are in the forecast. Our next high tide predicted to be a 11.85 feet at 9:30 tomorrow morning.
Puget Sound Marine forecast:
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING
TONIGHT S wind 25 to 35 kt. Wind waves 4 to 6 ft. Rain.
THU S wind 25 to 35 kt easing to 15 to 25 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 4 to 6 ft subsiding to 2 to 4 ft in the afternoon. Rain.
THU NIGHT S wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. A chance of rain.
Here’s the Wind Advisory published just after 3:00 pm today
…WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST THURSDAY…
The National Weather Service in Seattle has issued a Wind Advisory, which is in effect until noon PST Thursday. * WIND…South wind 20 to 35 MPH with gusts to 50 MPH. * SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS… * TIMING…Wind rising during the evening and peaking Thursday morning. * IMPACTS…Winds may be strong enough to down tree limbs, causing local power outages.
Checking out Wind Alert, gusts are predicted to be around 38-39 mph around high tide tomorrow morning.
Stay tuned!
EDITORS NOTE: Please scroll to the bottom of this post for updates.
If you’re a long time reader of Beach Drive Blog, then you’re most likely familiar with “the Barking Dog Report”. We issue a “Barking Dog Report” when we think there is a strong possibility that our Beach Drive home may flood from waves coming over the bulkhead. Sometimes, much like a neighbors barking dog (and the weatherman), we may be off and there is no issue. However, we think it’s always good to prepare for worse case scenario for those few times that flooding does occur.
For this report, we’re more of a concerned dog that’s sniffing the air for what may come this Friday. What has our ears pulled back this morning? Check out the current data from Wind Alert.
You can see by the bottom graph for this week that we’re going to be in for some stormy, windy weather… however, if Friday’s current forecast holds true, we could have gusts as high as 62 mph around 1:00 pm!
High tide is predicted to be 11.72 feet at 10:12 am on Friday, which is when the wind really appears to start picking up based on this morning’s chart from Wind Alert. At 1:00 p.m., tides are predicted to be around 10 feet…but with winds that strong, waves should be pretty intense.
Again, I hope we’re barking for nothing, just like your neighbor’s dog. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared for a big storm…just in case!
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PS PS: Stay tuned! Weather is such a moving target! As 12:54 pm (a few hours since publishing this post) Wind Alert is showing the strongest gust on Friday to be “only” 46 mph at 4:00 am.
UPDATE: As of 8:00 a.m. December 12, 2018, it looks like Friday will be a non-event. Thursday looks stormy but nothing like what we had originally shared on this post. 🙂
The Argosy Christmas Ships are scheduled to sail along Beach Drive this upcoming Friday, December 7, 2018. They are scheduled to be at Lowman Beach Park at 7:55 p.m. and then arrive at Alki Beach Park at 11:40 p.m.
Currently the weather for Friday looks like it will be cold and without rain. 🙂
UPDATE: Hilo has been reunited with her family!!! According to her facebook page, she was found near Lincoln Park. All tails are wagging at our home that this is a happy ending.
Hilo has been seen in the Seaview neighborhood and on Beach Drive.
This message is from her owners:
She is a 9.5 year old lab mix. 42 pounds – thin build. Black coat with white chest and back paws. Grey muzzle. Orange flower collar. Chipped and tagged. Spayed. Lots of dental work. Very shy, will not approach humans.
Please tell people, if they spot her to call us immediately at 814-441-8271. If possible, calmly try to keep her in view. Don’t approach. Don’t call her name. Don’t make eye contact. Crouch low and if you have treats drop some on the ground. She might come to you, but if you pursue she’ll definitely run.
Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.
We hope Hilo and her humans are reunited soon!
EDITORS NOTE: Scroll down for updates to this post.
morning, SV Pointless buoy pulled up and she drifted into the rocks at Emma Schmitz View Point.
I know about SV Pointless because she belongs to my husband, aka Beach Drive Blog’s intrepid reporter, Scupper.
It has been gut-wrenching to watch. We are forever grateful to our wonderful neighbors who have stopped by to help and who have sent well wishes.
The Coast Guard will not tow a boat that’s ashore. They were only really interested in protecting life (understandably) and were willing to rescue hubby if needed.
SPD’s crew has to get through the locks before they can do anything – that’s an hour wait. The Seattle Fire Department was the only contact we had and, like the Coast Guard, they will not tow either.
Vessel Assist would not come out because of the small craft advisory.
Over the years, we’ve heard from neighbors who enjoy having SV Pointless as part of their view. It’s been a sign of summer. Let’s hope she can be safely recovered.
UPDATE October 4, 2018:
S/V Pointless was successfully removed from the shores Emma Schmitz Viewpoint yesterday thanks to Global Salvage and many neighbors and friends, including fine folks from West Seattle Yacht Club.
She is now “on the hard” where she is being surveyed for damage. Scupper and First Mate Pat were aboard for her journey to Ballard and report that there were no noticeable leaks.
I’m sure she will be back for our viewing pleasure next summer OFF the shores of Beach Drive.
Photo credit: Rhonda Porter, unless otherwise noted.
There is a large gathering of motorcyclist at Mee Kwa Mooks park. 
Right now, as I write this post, there are about 80 bikes and there are anticipated to be 400 bikes joining the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride. This fundraiser takes place worldwide today.
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