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.

The U.S. and Canada have extended an order closing their shared border to nonessential traffic until at least March 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.

On March 11th, Governor Inslee announced all of Washington will advance to Phase 3 of the Healthy Washington Roadmap to Recovery Plan beginning March 22nd.  See the WA State Coronavirus Response website for impacts or any caveats.

Advisories, Watches and Warnings 

A “Small Craft Advisory” is in effect until 11:00am this morning for west winds 15-25 knots.

A “Winter Weather Advisory” is in effect for the Cascades until 11:00am this morning for snow above 3000 feet where an additional two to four inches of snow could fall.

Environment Canada has issued a “Strong Wind Warning” for the Strait of Georgia South of Nanaimo for northwest winds 15-25 knots.

Weather Around Whatcom County

Whatcom County Inland Weather

Today will see a high of 50 degrees in most places and a slight breeze from the west at 7-9mph.  There could still be some lingering showers especially as you head towards the foothills; temperatures will drop down to the micd-30s tonight,.   We’ll get a reprieve from the rain tonight and tomorrow with cloudy skies before another 24-36 bout of rain moves through the area.  Temperatures will still climb to near 50s degrees but there will be a southerly wind on Wednesday with gusts around 20 mph.  Point Roberts and Blaine will be a few degrees cooler today and west/northwest winds there will gust to 24-28 mph. The low tonight be in the mid-30s. Blaine will have decreasing clouds throughout the day. Sumas could see a shower today while Maple Falls has a chance for some rain.  Lows tonight in Maple Falls will be around 30 degrees so frost or frozen water could develop on roads under partly cloudy skies.  Newhalem will see a rain/snow mixture for today with highs only reaching 38 and lows tonight dropping to 29 degrees under partly cloudy skies. As precipitation moves back into the Newhalem area on Tuesday night, it’s is likely to fall in the form of a rain/snow mixture once again.  There will a slight breeze in the Newhalem area from the west/southwest today.

Rivers and Streams

The Nooksack River level is just slightly above where it was last Friday, thanks to the rain over the weekend.  Still it only rose about six to twelve inches which posed no issues.  We will likely see the same situation repeat itself a couple of times over the next 10 days as we have periods of 24-36 hours of rain forecast with breaks of 24-36 hours between the weather systems.  

Whatcom County Coastal Weather

For the Strait and Inland Coastal Waters off Whatcom County, west winds at 15-25 knots will drop to 10-20 knots this afternoon.  Wind waves will drop to one to three feet. Tonight west winds will increase to 15-25 knots after midnight so be on the alert for a “Small Craft Advisory” to be issued for that. Tomorrow this wind will be from the northwest at 10-20 knots dropping to 10 knots in the afternoon.  Wind waves will be one to three feet.

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.

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