These Daily Briefings on Incidents, Advisories, Watches and Warnings, current weather and Emergency Management tips are published Monday through Friday, as well as during times of increased awareness or actual events.

Train Derailment Update.   Incident Number 20-4465 has been assigned to this event.

The U.S. and Canada have extended an order closing their shared border to nonessential traffic until at least February 21, 2021. This includes both vehicular and boating between the countries.

The “Proclamation of Emergency” signed by the Whatcom County Executive concerning COVID-19 remains in effect. Information about Whatcom County’s response to COVID-19 is available at the Joint Information Center’s COVID-19 website.

Advisories, Watches and Warnings

Weather Around Whatcom County

Whatcom County Inland Weather

Mostly cloudy skies today will give way to mostly clear skies tonight.  There could also be a shower or two in the area.  Winds will be under 10 mph in the western part of the county but as you get to the north and east portion near Sumas, there will be a north wind with gusts to around 15 mph today and near 25 mph tonight.  Even tomorrow wind in Sumas will see gusts near 25 mph once again from the east/northeast.  Highs today will still reach the mid-40s but Friday and Saturday will see at least a 2-3 degree drop each day but both days should be sunny.  Lows tonight will still be in the mid-30s but you should expect freezing or below temperatures for tomorrow night and Saturday night as well. Newhalem will only see highs in the mid-30s and lows will drop to the mid-20s.  Saturday night and Sunday there could be a rain/snow mixture in lower parts of the county with higher elevations seeing some light amounts of snow.    

Rivers and Streams

There are no changes in the outlook for rivers and streams in the area.  The Nooksack is gradually dropping and that will continue over the next week as things appear now.

Whatcom County Coastal Weather

For the Strait and Inland Coastal Waters off Whatcom County expect east winds to shift to the north 5-15 knots with one to three foot wind waves.  Tonight winds will be from the northeast at 15-25 knots and wind waves will be two to four feet.  Tomorrow wind continues from the northeast at 15-25 knots and drops to 10-20 knots in the afternoon. Wind waves will be two to four feet.  While a “Small Craft Advisory” has not been issued at this time, 15-25 knots generally leads to one so continue to monitor marine weather for updates.

Tides

1.02

COVID-19

Everyone in Washington State is directed to wear a face covering while at any indoor public space and any outdoor public space where you may be within 6 feet of someone who does not live with you. You can find more info about face coverings and other protective actions here and here.

For those who are tide watchers, these are pretty impressive tides but as happened in the 2018 storm, the tides were pushed nearly two feet higher from the storm pressure (called storm surge) and then the west wind added another 3-4 feet of waves.

This briefing line is not updated on weekends unless an incident occurs.