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

For our weather today, you can expect an occasional shower with some breaks in the clouds between the showers.  Then we’ll have partly cloudy tonight and tomorrow.  The highs for today will reach the mid-40s with lows tonight dropping to near freezing in lower parts of the county and below freezing in higher elevations.  Tomorrow will see close to the same temperatures. The wind will be lighter from the northeast through tomorrow but then shift to the southeast and increase in velocity.  We could see gusts tomorrow night and Saturday around 20mph, but don’t be surprised if a higher gust occurs from time to time.  Rain, off and on, will be with us Saturday and Sunday. Newhalem, could see some snow due to its elevation. Accumulations will be light, but an inch or two would not be out of the question.   

Rivers and Streams

As a result of the rain over the weekend, we could see the Nooksack River rise a little bit but will remain well below the top of the banks. 

Whatcom County Coastal Weather

For the Strait and Inland Coastal Waters off Whatcom County the winds will shift from the east at 10-20 knots to the northeast and then north at 5-15 knots later. By tomorrow, the wind will have swung around to the southeast  and by tomorrow night increase to 15-25 knots and then 25-35 knots on Saturday.  Wind waves will increase to one to three feet and then four to six feet for the higher winds.  What you can expect is the National Weather Service will issue a “Small Craft Advisory followed by a Gale WatchWarning” over the course of the next 36-48 hours as the observers become more confident in their prediction.  Monitor marine weather for the changing conditions.

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Tides

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.