West Seattle

This winter's highest tide was supposed to arrive at dawn last Sunday morning, but the clear cold weather came with high pressure and that meant that a tide destined for 13.2' in Seattle barely made it to 12', a modest high tide at best.

Our best high tides seem to come when weather and pressure combine to lift a less than awesome tide into the truly unexpected range.  Like December 17th, 2012, when the 12' tide reached 14.5' (Whidbey Island).  Or when an El Niño elevates west coast water levels for weeks, like in January 2010 (Alki).

It seems like every winter for 20 years I've headed out at daybreak in late December or early January, hoping to see the Sound overflow. It's rarely spectacular, but getting out on the beach - or maybe getting outside at all - at dawn is still pretty special.  These shots are from Sunday morning, from Harbor Ave and from Alki Beach.

This post is a bit of an experiment and one that may get revised. I'm trying to post from a new app on an iPad, rather than my conventional use of blogger on the laptop. I'll let you know!