July 05, 2009

The Onshore Push has occurred

As predicted, marine air has surged into western Washington. I can hear the leaves blowing outside my window right now..and the wind chimes are ringing. Just heaven! A weaker onshore surge than June 4th and one that started in the mid-afternoon--which is unusual...most wait until the evening....

8 comments:

  1. And it feels lovely.... yay!!!

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  2. BTW, thanks for warning the Sunday daysailers... !

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  3. Going back to the June 4th push, I heard from some locals in Bellingham that the two sail boat fatalities were a group of people from the town of Glacier that had taken out an illequiped sailboat that evening, it seems like they might have been alright if thay had stayed on or near the over turned boat and let it get blown into shore. From what I have heard they tryed to swim for it and if they had known anything about hypothermia or the Puget Sound they would have reconsidered that decision. I have to say being in the puget sound at night next to an over turned sail boat does not make for a good decision making environment but public education related to hypothermia might have helped in this case. Bellingham Bay seems to generate at least one fatality a year from the the surf-ski, sea kayaking community many of which do not dress properly for the prospect of floating around in the sound after dark for 6-12 hours, there is lots of room for improvement in education and outreach to this community regarding hypothermia.

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  4. Davey, I followed the sailboat tragedy closely, met one of the survivors and helped with the search. Two people did stay with the boat and drift in but the whole group of 6 were sinking the overturned boat when they decided to swim. Several bad decisions led to the accident but they did the best they could after. I wish they'd read this blog and known the Push was coming... I thought about them when the push came in last night too.

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  5. Two things:

    First, this push seemed more extended than the June 4th one starting in late-afternoon and continuing into the evening.

    Did that have an effect on it's intensity? Whast factors govern a strong push (with a squall line like we saw back on June 4th ... just pressure differences?

    Second, I see the first Volcanic Activity Statement of the year (2009/1) has been issued by NOAA for blowing ash (not an eruption) on July 5th.

    http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/ARCH09/STHELEN/2009G052303.html

    RMK: AT 2215Z A PILOT REPORTED ASH DRIFTING NE
    FROM MSH. WEB CAM SUGGESTS THIS IS RESUSPENDED
    ASH DUE TO STRONG WINDS. NO ERUPTION IS
    OCCURRING. ...BIRCH

    Is this due to a combination of the winds and the dry weather (we've had plenty of wind before so I presume the dryness is the issue)?

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  6. Thanks, Kevin, for posting that note about MSH. I happened to view the volcano cam right after the ash cloud was visible and thought that I must have been mistaken, because there was no earthquake activity going on.
    volcano cam:
    http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/views/highdef-live.php
    earthquake URL: (http://www.geophys.washington.edu/recenteqs/latest.htm)

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  7. Hey Cliff,

    What does the weather look like for the seattle to portland bike ride this weekend?

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  8. The weather for the STP ride looks good...no rain and not hot..cliff

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