Field trip to Beach Drive

March 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment

You may have noticed the group of students and the school bus by Mee Kwa Mooks on Beach Drive. They are here to study the 43 mile long Seattle Fault line zone that has a portion running through Beach Drive to the Bainbridge Island.

We noticed the group walking by homes along the 4700 block and then heading north. One of the leaders of the group told us this is an annual trip that they typically do in the fall.

It’s reminding me that we really need to get our safety kit ready to be prepared for an earthquake or tsunami.

Filed Under: Safety Tagged With: , ,

Power Outage in West Seattle

February 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Several homes along Beach Drive are impacted by a power outage. This Seattle City Light map shows the current outage in West Seattle.

According to West Seattle Blog, this outage is impacting over 4,800 homes and businesses.

Filed Under: Current Affairs

Coastal Flood Advisory early tomorrow morning

February 8, 2017 by Leave a Comment

From the National Weather Service:

Coastal Flood Advisory

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
742 PM PST WED FEB 8 2017

WAZ001-503-504-506-507-509>511-558-559-091145-
/O.CON.KSEW.CF.Y.0002.170209T0900Z-170209T1700Z/
SAN JUAN COUNTY-WESTERN WHATCOM COUNTY-SOUTHWEST INTERIOR-
WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY-EVERETT AND VICINITY-TACOMA AREA-
ADMIRALTY INLET AREA-HOOD CANAL AREA-SEATTLE AND VICINITY-
BREMERTON AND VICINITY-
742 PM PST WED FEB 8 2017

...COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 9 AM PST
THURSDAY...

* COASTAL FLOODING...THE COMBINATION OF HIGH ASTRONOMICAL TIDES
  AND RELATIVELY LOW PRESSURE COULD PRODUCE MINOR FLOODING ALONG
  THE SHORELINES AROUND THE TIME OF HIGH TIDE EARLY THURSDAY
  MORNING.

* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS...PUGET SOUND...HOOD CANAL...THE
  ADMIRALTY INLET AREA...AND THE NORTHERN INLAND WATERS INCLUDING
  THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS.

* TIMING...WITHIN AN HOUR OR TWO EITHER SIDE OF HIGH TIDES. HIGH
  TIDES WILL GENERALLY OCCUR BETWEEN 4 AM AND 6 AM.

* TIDE INFO...LOW PRESSURE SHOULD RESULT IN TIDAL ANOMALIES OF 1
  TO 1.5 FEET ABOVE THE PREDICTED TIDES.

* IMPACTS...MINOR FLOODING DUE TO TIDAL OVERFLOW. LOW LYING
  AREAS NEXT TO THE WATER COULD SEE MINOR FLOODING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY INDICATES THAT ONSHORE WINDS AND TIDES
WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE FLOODING OF LOW AREAS ALONG THE SHORE.


Our highest estimated tide, not factoring the coastal flooding is predicted 
to be 11.96 at 4:34 a.m. With the coast flooding, it's estimated we can add 
1 to 1.5 feet to the tides.
Filed Under: Puget Sound

Inches of Ice on Jacobsen Road

January 6, 2017 by Leave a Comment

The base of Jacobsen Road towards Beach Drive is covered with inches of ice.

The Seattle Department of Transportation is on the scene. As we have not had real snow in days, I’m guessing this build up of ice is from the natural springs and our freeeeeezing cold spell.

Bundle up and drive safe, friends!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Barking Dog Report: High Tides and Wind

December 20, 2016 by Leave a Comment

This morning we’re waking up to raucous waves crashing on the bulkhead with spray flying over…and we’re still a couple hours from high tide (as I write this post). We think there’s pretty strong odds that we may flood…hence the “barking dog report” to warn our neighbors who might flood in these conditions too.

Here’s what we’re basing the report on.

Let’s start with the tides:

Add the Puget Sound Marine forecast with a Gale Warning in effect until 4:00 pm.

555 AM PST TUE DEC 20 2016    

GALE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON    

TODAY  SW WIND 25 TO 35 KT. WIND WAVES 5 TO 7 FT. A CHANCE OF  SHOWERS.

Factor in a high tide of 12.18 at 10.08 this morning. Right now (7:30 am), we are at about 8 feet and we have water and spray splashing over.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Puget Sound, Weather

NWS issues a Coastal Flood Advisory

December 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment

The National Weather Service in Seattle has issued a coastal flooding advisory.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TO 11 AM PST THIS MORNING. *

COASTAL FLOODING…HIGH TIDES WILL BE ABOUT ONE FOOT BELOW WHAT NORMALLY CAUSES MINOR TIDAL OVERFLOW THIS MORNING. HOWEVER, A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM PASSING THROUGH THE AREA AROUND THE HIGH TIDE WILL PRODUCE WINDY CONDITIONS AND WAVES UP TO 5 FEET. THESE WAVES MAY OVERTOP SEAWALLS AROUND TODAYS MORNING HIGH TIDE.

* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS…SHORELINES OF PUGET SOUND…

* TIMING…TWO HOURS EITHER SIDE OF THIS MORNING`S HIGH TIDE THAT WILL OCCUR BETWEEN 8 AND 9 AM PST.

* TIDE INFO…HIGH TIDE FROM TACOMA NORTHWARD TO FRIDAY HARBOR IS AROUND 8 AM…. THE TIDES AT ALL LOCATIONS WILL BE ABOUT 1 FOOT BELOW WHERE MINOR TIDAL OVERFLOW NORMALLY OCCURS.

* IMPACTS…WAVES MAY OCCASIONALLY SEND SEA WATER OVER LOWER SEAWALLS AROUND THE HIGH TIDE THIS MORNING. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY INDICATES THAT ONSHORE WINDS AND TIDES WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE MINOR FLOODING OF LOW AREAS ALONG THE SHORE.

Puget Sound Marine forecast has a Gale Warning until 9:00 am this morning being reduced to a Gale Watch through Tuesday afternoon.

 TODAY  S WIND 25 TO 35 KT EARLY…EASING TO 15 TO 25 KT BY AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT…SUBSIDING TO 2 TO 4 FT IN THE AFTERNOON.  RAIN IN THE MORNING…THEN ISOLATED SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.

 TONIGHT  SE WIND TO 10 KT…BECOMING S 15 TO 25 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS…BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. RAIN.  

TUE  SW WIND 20 TO 30 KT…RISING TO 25 TO 35 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT. SHOWERS IN THE MORNING…THEN  SCATTERED SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.

We do have extremely high tides right now with a 12.49 estimated at 9:24 this morning. Tuesday’s high tide is 12.18 around 10:00 am.

Wind Alert shows the stronger winds tapering down following the high tide and shows winds picking up again this evening and the wee hours on Tuesday.

Filed Under: Puget Sound, Weather Tagged With:

Bulkhead Bashing

December 12, 2016 by 4 Comments

a-shore-thingThe December 2016 issue of Seattle Magazine has an article written by Maria Dolan on the effects of bulkheads on the environment. I’m not able to find a link to “A Shore Thing” at the time of posting this, or I’d be sharing it with you now. 🙂  If you’d like to read it now, it looks like you’ll have to pick up the December issue.

The photo is what first caught my eye since it features Beach Drive homes on bulkheads by Mee Kwa Mooks. This spot is not far from where the City has been talking about replacing the eroding seawall along Emma Schmitz Memorial Viewpoint. Our intrepid reporter, Scupper, wrote about the seawall almost three years ago…which has had band-aid repairs at most.

The article talks about how homeowners should consider removing their bulkheads. I would guess that for many of  the homes along Beach Drive, this would not be a viable option, as most the homes don’t have enough land or are do not have a high enough bank to accommodate a shore.

It will be interesting to see what winds up happening to the deteriorating bulkhead along Emma Schmitz.

Filed Under: Bulkheads, Puget Sound Tagged With:

Winter Storm Watch for Monday

December 4, 2016 by Leave a Comment

The National Weather Service has issued Winter Storm Watch for Monday with… the “s word”.

Winter Storm Watch

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
107 PM PST SUN DEC 4 2016

WAZ507-555-556-558-050615-
/O.NEW.KSEW.WS.A.0010.161206T0000Z-161206T1200Z/
/O.CON.KSEW.WW.Y.0030.161205T1200Z-161205T2000Z/
EVERETT AND VICINITY-EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-BELLEVUE AND VICINITY-
SEATTLE AND VICINITY-
107 PM PST SUN DEC 4 2016

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO NOON PST
MONDAY...
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE
MONDAY NIGHT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE MONDAY
NIGHT.

* TIMING...SHOWERS WILL INCREASE MONDAY MORNING BETWEEN 4 AM AND
  NOON. SLIGHTLY WARMER TEMPERATURES WILL BRING MOSTLY RAIN
  SHOWERS BY AFTERNOON. COLDER AIR ARRIVES MONDAY EVENING WITH A
  PUGET SOUND CONVERGENCE ZONE PRODUCING SNOW SHOWERS DOWN TO SEA-
  LEVEL THROUGH LATE MONDAY NIGHT.

* SNOW AMOUNTS...A TRACE TO 2 INCHES ABOVE 500 FEET MONDAY
  MORNING. MONDAY NIGHT...LOCALLY UP TO 4 INCHES OF ADDITIONAL
  SNOW POSSIBLE FROM NORTH SEATTLE TO EVERETT AND EASTWARD TO THE
  FOOTHILLS INCLUDING THE BELLEVUE AREA. LITTLE OR NO SNOW
  ACCUMULATION ELSEWHERE AROUND THE METRO REGION NOT AFFECTED BY
  THE CONVERGENCE ZONE.

* SNOW LEVELS...MAINLY NEAR 500 FEET MONDAY MORNING...RISING IN
  THE AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVELS FALLING TO SEA-LEVEL MONDAY EVENING
  THROUGH LATE MONDAY NIGHT AS COLD NORTHERLY FRASER OUTFLOW
  DEVELOPS.

* IMPACTS...SLUSH ON SOME ROADWAYS ABOVE 500 FEET MAY CAUSE
  SLIPPERY DRIVING CONDITIONS MONDAY MORNING. TEMPERATURES FALLING
  INTO THE UPPER 20S MONDAY NIGHT WILL CAUSE ANY SNOW OR RECENT
  MOISTURE TO BECOME ICY DURING THE COMMUTES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW COULD
CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
SNOW...SLEET...OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE
TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS
Filed Under: Weather

Emma Schmitz Overlook lower access closed starting next week

November 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Emma Schmitz Overlook’s lower access will be closed starting November 28th through December 9th to replace the rusty old handrails.

20161123_151841 20161123_151846 20161123_152316

Filed Under: Parks Tagged With:

Barking Dog Report: Wind Advisory with High Tide

November 12, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Barking-Dog-ReportThe National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory starting at 9:00 am this morning and going though 3:00 pm this afternoon…this is just in time for a very high tide of 12.15 at 2:24 pm.

Remember, we call this a “barking dog report” because just like your neighbors dog that barks a little too much… sometimes there’s actually a reason for the barking. We issue a “barking dog report” when we think there is a good probability that we may have flooding from water coming over the bulkhead.

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
435 AM PST SAT NOV 12 2016

...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 3 PM
PST THIS AFTERNOON...

* TIMING...STRONGEST WINDS WILL OCCUR FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING
  THROUGH 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON.

* WINDS...SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH.

* IMPACTS...WINDS OF THIS MAGNITUDE CAN BREAK TREE LIMBS FALLING
  ONTO ROADS...VEHICLES...AND ROOFTOPS. ISOLATED POWER OUTAGES ARE
  POSSIBLE.

2016-11-12-tides

The Puget Sound Marine forecast:

S WIND 15 TO 25 KT…BECOMING SW 20 TO 30 KT LATE IN THE
MORNING AND AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT…BUILDING TO 3 TO 5 FT.  RAIN IN THE MORNING…THEN A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON.

Wind Alert has the strongest gusts predicted around 11:00 am through 2:00 pm today.

2016-11-12-wind

If not for the 12 foot tides and currently predicted strong southwest winds… I *might* not be yapping right now. And want to give neighbors as much notice as possible in the event some of us flood.

Weather forecast change constantly. These reports are from around 4:00 am this morning (not sure how current Wind Alerts reporting is).

Stay tuned and be safe!

Filed Under: Safety, Tides, Weather
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