SLIDESHOW: High tide and strong winds make for a dramatic combination in West Seattle
Tue, 12/04/2012
Today's 11.8 + high tide combined with gusting winds made for dramatic scenes along Alki Beach this morning. Photographer David Rosen was out around the area capturing photos of the heavy weather action.
The National Weather Service issued a Special Weather Statement this morning that notes that heavy rainfall over the past week and before will increase the potential for landslides but no specific weather warnings were issued for our area.
Alert:
...HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE PAST WEEK AND ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL OVER THE LAST THREE WEEKS HAS LED TO AN INCREASED RISK OFLANDSLIDES...
RAINFALL OF 2 TO 5 INCHES IN THE LOWLANDS OVER THE PAST WEEK HAS INCREASED SOIL MOISTURE TO HIGH LEVELS ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON.
RAINFALL OF A HALF INCH TO MORE THAN TWO INCHES LAST NIGHT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO ADDITIONAL PRESSURE ON SOIL INSTABILITY...LEADING TO AN ENHANCED RISK OF LANDSLIDES.
CUMULATIVE RAINFALL OVER THE LAST WEEK HAS SOAKED SOILS TO THE POINT WHERE THE WASHINGTON LANDSLIDE RISK LEVEL IS MODERATE. THE HIGHER THE RISK LEVEL...THE MORE NUMEROUS THE LANDSLIDES ARE LIKELY TO BE. ISOLATED LANDSLIDES CAN BE EXPECTED TODAY AND
PERHAPS THE REST OF THIS WEEK.
WITH AN ELEVATED LANDSLIDE RISK...RAINFALL INDUCED LANDSLIDES ARE POSSIBLE DURING BURSTS OF INTENSE RAINFALL OR WHEN THERE IS HEAVY RAINFALL OVER A PERIOD OF A DAY OR TWO AS NOTED IN THE FORECAST ELEVATED RISK LEVEL. A GRADUALLY DIMINISHING RISK OF LANDSLIDES WILL CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL DAYS AFTER THE RAIN ENDS. AREAS MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO LANDSLIDES UNDER THESE CONDITIONS ARE STEEP COASTAL BLUFFS AND OTHER STEEP HILLSIDES.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CURRENT CONDITIONS...VISIT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE...SELECT HYDROLOGY...AND THEN SCROLL DOWN FOR THE LINKS TO THE LANDSLIDE INFORMATION PAGES.
TO REPORT LANDSLIDES TO THE STATE FOR TABULATION...GO TO THE WASHINGTON STATE LANDSLIDE RISK WEB PAGE AND THE LINK FOR REPORTING.