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!