West Coast TE Peeps....

[Blueberry]

Check in and let us know you're OK! Here's hoping the warnings don't end up being anything....

[Biciclista]

no problem here. (Washington)

[maillotpois]

3 - 5 foot waves predicted. Business as usual.

[Biciclista]

The surfers are probably going wild.

[SadieKate]

3 - 5 foot waves predicted. Business as usual.

For your reading pleasure. Remedial Tsunami Waves 101.

4. How are tsunami waves different from normal ocean waves?
Both normal ocean waves and tsunami waves can be described by their period (time between two waves), wavelength (horizontal distance between waves), amplitude (wave height), and speed. Normal ocean waves are caused by the wind, weather, tides, and currents. They have periods of 5-20 seconds, wavelengths of 100-200 meters (300-600 feet), and travel at speeds of 8-100 km per hour (5-60 miles per hour). Tsunami waves have much longer periods of 10 minutes to 2 hours, wavelengths of 100-500 km (60-300 miles), and travel at speeds of 800-1000 km per hour (500-600 miles per hour). The amplitude of normal waves and tsunami waves are similar in deep ocean water, but near shore, tsunami waves can be much larger with heights of 10 meters (32 feet) or more. Furthermore, normal ocean waves only involve motion of the uppermost layer of the water, but tsunami waves involve movement of the entire water column from surface to seafloor. This means a normal wave is like a small ripple on top of the ocean, but tsunamis are like the entire ocean getting deeper all at once.

http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/faq.php#4

[maillotpois]

Good stuff - interesting. Even so, the point is by the time it gets here, its not expected to be particularly hazardous. We'll see. It's apparently supposed to start now. People are crowded up on Grizzly Peak and Skyline drive to "watch", which is ludicrous.

[SadieKate]

Fortunately, I'm waaay inland and in high ground, but the news is reporting waves are starting to hit Southern Oregon.

Hawaii is starting to see the wave train pushing water inland.

[Eden]

Apparently not much in the way of worries on the WA coast - waves a foot and under for most places, probably won't be much noticeable, but they have evacuated some very low lying areas just in case. I've also heard a little jut out on the Oregon coast has been cleared - I'm guessing even though the waves coming in won't be high, they may swamp the area.

I'm more concerned over all the poor people in Japan.... looks like it was pretty bad over there... (I think we have one or two TErs over there)

Our NOAA radio went off last night - good thing it wasn't an emergency in our immediate area... DH managed to sleep right through the racket....