The National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Watch:

...HIGH WIND WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
LATE SUNDAY NIGHT...

* TIMING...SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. STRONGEST WINDS
  WILL LIKELY BE LATER SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

* WINDS...SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO
  AROUND 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE.

* IMPACTS...FAIRLY WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES AND DOWNED TREES ARE
  POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH SOME DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS. REMEMBER THAT
  FALLING TREES AND TREE LIMBS CAN CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A HIGH WIND WATCH MEANS THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR A HAZARDOUS HIGH
WIND EVENT. SUSTAINED WINDS OF AT LEAST 40 MPH...OR GUSTS OF 58 MPH
OR STRONGER MAY OCCUR. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.


High tides for Sunday are predicted to be 11.99 at 8:37 am and 10.52 at 9:54 pm. However, it's possible we could have "coastal flooding" as we do today and have had the last couple days, which will raise the tides even higher.

Seattle City Forecast:

…COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM PST THIS MORNING…
…HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE SUNDAY NIGHT…

TODAY…BREEZY. RAIN AT TIMES IN THE MORNING…THEN SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAINFALL AMOUNTS A TENTH TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH POSSIBLE… EXCEPT HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE IN THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 50S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 20 MPH BECOMING SOUTHWEST 15 TO 25 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.

TONIGHT…WINDY. SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EVENING…THEN SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. RAINFALL AMOUNTS A TENTH TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH POSSIBLE…EXCEPT HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE IN THUNDERSTORMS. LOWS NEAR 40. SOUTH WIND 15 TO 30 MPH.

SUNDAY…WINDY…RAIN. RAINFALL AMOUNTS A QUARTER TO A HALF INCH POSSIBLE. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 40S TO MID 50S. EAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH INCREASING TO SOUTHEAST 20 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.

SUNDAY NIGHT…VERY WINDY. RAIN AT TIMES IN THE EVENING…THEN SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. RAINFALL AMOUNTS A QUARTER TO A HALF INCH POSSIBLE. LOWS NEAR 40. SOUTH WIND 25 TO 40 MPH BECOMING SOUTHWEST AFTER MIDNIGHT. GUSTS TO 55 MPH.

MONDAY…WINDY. SHOWERS LIKELY. RAINFALL AMOUNTS A QUARTER TO A HALF INCH POSSIBLE. HIGHS NEAR 50. SOUTH WIND 15 TO 25 MPH BECOMING SOUTHWEST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.

Puget Sound Marine Forecast:

  TODAY  S WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. RAIN IN THE  MORNING…THEN SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF TSTMS IN THE AFTERNOON.  TONIGHT  S WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. A CHANCE OF  TSTMS IN THE EVENING. SHOWERS.  

SUN  SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT BECOMING E 20 TO 30 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. RAIN.  

SUN NIGHT  S WIND 25 TO 35 KT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT.

Charge up your cell phones, be safe and stay tuned! Should we lose power, we will be posting on Facebook… now might be a good time to “like” our Facebook page.

If you are a long time reader of Beach Drive Blog, you are familiar with the “barking dog” report. A “barking dog” report is when we are preparing to possibly flood from waves breaching our bulkhead. It’s called a “barking dog” because, much like a neighbor’s barking dog – it could be much ado about nothing. We are not professional weather people – we do care about our neighbors and will “bark” if we see what we think is enough warning. And, like your neighbor’s barking dog, we’re not always right.

So… this is what we’re looking at right now and this is subject to change (please check links on the right for updated forecast).

First of all, we have some very high tides in the next couple of days, paired with the strong winds. This chart is from NOAA.

Now check out this chart from Wind Alert for Alki Point.

This is concerning.

We have an 11.39 on Wednesday at 4:56 pm… what seems to be more concerning is the next high tide estimated at 12.44 at 5:38 am on Thursday when it’s predicted we may have gusts up to 50 mph.

Puget Sound Marine forecast:

 WED NIGHT  SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT…BECOMING S 20 TO 30 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. RAIN.  

THU  S WIND 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT.  

THU NIGHT  SW WIND 15 TO 25 KT…BECOMING S 10 TO 20 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT.

If for nothing else, this is a good reason to make sure you are prepared for potential flooding and to check on neighbors – make sure they know about this potential storm.

I hope this is a big to-do about nothing.

We have some very windy weather in the forecast for Tuesday. The winds are predicted to start today and build through Tuesday. We have a small craft advisory in effect through tonight followed by a Gale Watch on Tuesday.

A High Wind Watch as been issued starting 6:00 am Tuesday morning through midnight. A “high wind watch” is defined by the National Weather Service as:

A HIGH WIND WATCH MEANS THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR A DAMAGING WIND EVENT. SUSTAINED WINDS OF AT LEAST 40 MPH AND/OR GUSTS OF 58 MPH OR STRONGER MAY OCCUR.

Based on the current forecast (see below), we are preparing for the possibility of flooding due to the high winds, high tide and the predicted waves.

This is what we at BDB have referred to as a “barking dog report”. It may be that we’re just being a friendly neighborhood dog, howling at nothing, or this really could be an event that is legitimately cause for concern. Of course, we hope it’s all a big to-do over nothing.

Cliff Mass says that Tuesday will be “a particularly wild day”.

Here is the forecast from the NWS:

Seattle City Forecast:

…HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING…
TODAY…BECOMING WINDY. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING…THEN RAIN AT TIMES IN THE AFTERNOON. RAINFALL AMOUNTS A TENTH TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH POSSIBLE. HIGHS IN THE MID 40S TO LOWER 50S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 20 MPH INCREASING TO 20 TO 30 MPH THIS AFTERNOON.

TONIGHT...WINDY. RAIN AT TIMES. RAINFALL AMOUNTS A TENTH TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH POSSIBLE. LOWS IN THE 40S. SOUTH WIND 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT.

TUESDAY…VERY WINDY. RAIN. RAINFALL AMOUNTS A QUARTER TO A HALF INCH POSSIBLE. HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 50S. SOUTHWEST WIND 20 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH.

TUESDAY NIGHT…WINDY. RAIN AT TIMES IN THE EVENING…THEN SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. RAINFALL AMOUNTS A TENTH TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH POSSIBLE. LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S TO MID 40S. SOUTHWEST WIND 15 TO 30 MPH SOUTH PART…NORTHWEST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH NORTH PART. WIND BECOMING SOUTHWEST 10 TO 20 MPH ALL AREAS AFTER MIDNIGHT.

Puget Sound Marine Forecast:

TODAY  S WIND 10 TO 20 KT…RISING TO 20 TO 30 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT…BUILDING TO 3 TO 5 FT IN THE  AFTERNOON. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING…THEN RAIN IN THE  AFTERNOON.  

TONIGHT  S WIND 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. RAIN.  

TUE  SW WIND 25 TO 35 KT…RISING TO 35 TO 45 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT…BUILDING TO 6 TO 8 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN.  

TUE NIGHT  W WIND 25 TO 35 KT…BECOMING SW 15 TO 25 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT…SUBSIDING TO 2 TO 4 FT AFTER  MIDNIGHT.

Check out the tides. We have a 11.71 high tide at 9:13 Tuesday morning. The tides are predicted to go down to a 6.5 at 3:15 pm and then up to a 8.66 at 7:57 Tuesday night.

Wind Alert shows the winds building with gusts over 45 mph starting at high tide and continuing throughout the afternoon. This wind graph is of Fauntleroy.