Sweet September

9/30/13: Yesterday and last night the northern Washington Coast (read us, 3 miles from the coast) was hit by what has been described as the strongest September windstorm on record – sustained winds of 65 mph, gusting to 75 mph. Makes you reconsider the wisdom of living under the really big trees. Trees down everywhere, surf on the beaches at 30 ft or so, with rolling driftwood logs stalking the surf for the unwary spectator. Local rivers were at mid-flood, but no water over the roads.

To the left are a couple of weather shots (courtesy Jon Preston, NPS Ranger at the Hoh Valley and local “weatherboy” – visit his Facebook page for much more) and a photo or two from my own visit to Rialto Beach late yesterday afternoon. Click to expand them. The large image at the top of the page shows “fireflies” of flying foam driven onto the camera lens.

While Forks lost power at about 7 PM last night, power at the lodge has stayed on (trees fall at random – sometimes you get lucky). Mostly, however, our power-on status was thanks to a project undertaken over the past 5 yr or so by the local Public Utility District to bury the power lines in immediate our area.

This morning, all is well, with better weather on the way. All roads that I know about are clear, and by midweek we’ll be back to normal.