Tsunami.

So this morning we awoke to a 5AM calling informing us of a tsunami warning for the area.  At first I rolled over, and then I realized that this may effect my surfing plans for this morning, so I go online to see what I could learn.  The Beach Flats in Santa Cruz were evacuated.  Ocean Beach and The Great Highway were closed.  The harbor entrance in Santa Cruz was the local area of greatest concern; a 3.3 foot tsunami was forecasted to hit just after 8AM.  Up north, Arena Cove was expecting 6 foot plus surges.  I figured I'd need to see how things played out before I got in the water today.

Cowell's Beach sucked nearly dry around 7:50 this morning.  A series of "weird" and "odd" waves then filled it back in.  Surfers getting out at Steamer's at about this time reported a fun morning surf.  Up the coast at around 9AM, one could distinctly see the water draw out across the beach and reef, as the sea level dropped several feet.  A few minutes later a set of 4 or 5 waves filled it all back in to the cliffs.  Nothing too dramatic, or odd about them.  Sort of like a hurricane surge.  But these were clearly tsunami.

Prays go Japan, those who are missing, and those who are searching.  While the waves here along our coast offered up good entertainment, across the Pacific great damage was wreaked.  A huge 8.9 magnitude earthquake shook at 2:46 PM JST, in the ocean east of Sendai and north-northeast of Tokyo.  Both cities were significantly effected by the quake, with failing structures and fire.  But most significant was a 13 foot tsunami that hit Sendai and Tokyo, driving inland.  Airports and trains are under water.  Boats, cars and trucks are floating down stream.  The infrastructure is decimated.  Many have died, and it will take weeks to assess the damage.  Images and videos of the event are easy to find, and will give a sense of the massiveness of this event where the ocean literally just swept up and into the landscape.  Nature is an awesome force.

Our forecast remains constant.  It is a clear, cool and beautiful spring day.  I was going to talk of signs of spring, that can wait until another day.  Things look a little warmer over the weekend.  Saturday look decent around the bay region, with more clouds in the north than in the south.  Rain from about SF north is expected on Sunday.  Of course, a greater chance of getting wet the further north you go, and as the day wears on.  South of the city, it should remain mostly dry and partly sunny through the day.  About 65F both days.  Light rain should cross the region Monday and into Tuesday.  Models keep changing on the Sunday night and Tuesday night waves of weather.  We will need to update with more detail over the weekend.

There is swell in the water, but if you choose to approach the ocean today, use extreme caution.  The tsunami should continue through the daylight hours.  Waves remain head high to over head over the weekend, with fair weather and wind conditions forecasted.  The south wind will encroach from the north on Sunday as the storm approaches.  Then we may have poor winds for a few days, as the swell continues.  We are in a decent run for waves right now, and should expect that to continue through next week.  It will mostly depend on local weather.

The mountains received a few inches last night of mostly wet and heavy snow.  This should prove to buff things out a little bit, especially if we get the forecasted winds tonight.  Ridge top SW winds are expected to gust up about 30 mph overnight and into tomorrow.  This will allow for a little transport and natures grooming in the right areas.  Daytime warming could make the back country a little challenging on southerly slopes over the weekend.  If you are heading out, know before you go.  Saturday looks like a night day for a hike, with storminess returning as early as Sunday morning.  Not a lot expected with this next system, perhaps a bit more that last nights.

Get out and enjoy a nice afternoon and a beautiful Saturday.  Get your outside work and play taken care of.  Sunday may begin nice, but will deteriorate as the weekend closes.  Monday morning commute may be a wet one.