Low tide tomorrow and Sunday = beach comber’s dream

jetty long web

“Giant waves” surge at the Jetty — standing on the rocks as the tide comes in? Probably not a good idea. These three thrill seekers made it to dry land, with a couple minutes to spare.

jetty watchers spray web

It’s just like a regular, slightly bigger high tide . . . Only it’s supposed to be coming up on low tide (8:25 a.m.). As Cathy mentioned in the comments, high tide isn’t until this afternoon (2:25 p.m.), so it should be pretty gigantic. Also, the “giant wave” warning doesn’t officially start until 10 a.m. today.

Anyone ever heard of a “giant waves warning” before? I’m off to the Jetty to take a look at the giants . . .

From Bruce Richardson, who took this today a little after noon today, at the Jetty:

bruce jetty waves nov 5 web

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE
...GIANT WAVES TO IMPACT THE WASHINGTON COAST ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY…
A LARGE AND POWERFUL LOW PRESSURE CENTER IN THE GULF OF ALASKA HAS GENERATED GIANT WAVES WHICH WILL REACH THE WASHINGTON COAST ON FRIDAY MORNING AND THEN CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A HIGH SURF WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM FRIDAY TO 4 PM PST
SATURDAY.
A LONG SERIES OF GIANT WAVES WILL START TO IMPACT THE WASHINGTON COAST ON FRIDAY MORNING AND THEN CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY.
POWERFUL WAVES OF 25 TO 28 FEET ARE EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE
BEACHES DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. THE GIANT WAVES WILL BE SEPARATED BY ABOUT 15 TO 20 SECONDS OF TIME…SO DO NOT BE LULLED BY PERIOD BETWEEN WAVES INTO THINKING IT IS SAFE TO VENTURE CLOSE TO THE WATERS EDGE.

Issued by The National Weather Service Seattle/Tacoma, WA
4:57 pm PST, Tue., Nov. 3, 2009

… WINDY CONDITIONS FOR THE MOUNTAINS… COAST… AND NORTHERN INTERIOR THURSDAY…

A STRONG PACIFIC FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL IMPACT WESTERN WASHINGTON ON THURSDAY. BREEZY SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT WILL BECOME SOUTH-SOUTHWEST ON THURSDAY FOR THE NORTH INTERIOR AND COAST INCREASING TO 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUST AS HIGH AS 50 MPH.

. . . El Nino, please report to the Northwest:

Issued by The National Weather Service Seattle/Tacoma, WA  3:58 pm PDT, Tue., Oct. 27, 2009

… FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE FRIDAY NIGHT…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN WASHINGTON… INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES… GRAYS HARBOR…

weather.com, North Beach area:

Today
Oct 24

Mostly Sunny

Sun
Oct 25

Rain

51°
48°

70%

Read more…

(not to be confused with Big Foot) a weather heads-up, from Bruce Richardson:

Issued by The National Weather Service Seattle/Tacoma, WA  3:07 am PDT, Wed., Oct. 21, 2009
… HIGH SURF ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 11 PM PDT THURSDAY… A STRONG SYSTEM OVER THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC WILL GENERATE LARGE SWELLS THAT WILL REACH THE NORTH AND CENTRAL WASHINGTON COAST AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. SWELLS WILL RANGE FROM 15 TO 18 FEET ALONG THE COAST. THE LARGE SWELLS WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE BELOW 15 FEET LATE THURSDAY EVENING.
IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO FISH OR OBSERVE WAVES FROM ROCKS DURING HIGH SURF CONDITIONS. UNWARY BEACH WALKERS CAN BE CAUGHT OFF GUARD AS WAVES SUDDENLY RACE FARTHER UP THE BEACH THAN NORMAL. PEOPLE CAN ALSO BE SERIOUSLY INJURED BY DEBRIS… SUCH AS LARGE LOGS… TOSSED ABOUT IN THE WAVES.