Thanksgiving Forecast. Variable 3 days, big West Coast waves.

Happy Thanksgiving all! It should be a pretty decent weekend for hanging out with family. Saturday will be quite nice. A good time to spend out and about with family. Sunday will feature some rain, so maybe stay inside and enjoy time together with Turkey and stuffing and all the rest. Monday will switch back to a nice day to enjoy fall weather outside. And if you are on the West coast you might want to check out (safely) some of the waves crashing up on the beach during high tide. Here are some more details:

Saturday Warm and Surfy

We have already started the day with low cloud. This is just some valley fog. We should clear by before 11AM and reveal a beautiful sunny and warm day up to around 15-17°C! Not bad for October!

The surfers are going to be happy on the West Coast. The map below comes from surf forecast.com it is for Saturday the 6th.

It shows some pretty big swells offshore, more than 2 metres, coming into west coast beaches. The Park Reserve has put out a warning as these waves will be occuring at the same time as high tides for the month with the new moon on the 8th.

High to Extreme Wave Hazard Advisory

Issued for

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

Possible Upper-shoreline Flooding and Strong Currents

October 6^th to October 12^th, 2018

UCLUELET, October 5^th – Parks Canada has issued a high to extreme wave hazard advisory, warning the public to use extra caution on beaches, shorelines and coastal waters in and around the national park reserve on Saturday through Friday, October 6^th – October 12^th

During this time period, high tides reaching up to 3.8 metres are occurring mid-day. On October 6^th and October 9^th ocean swell is predicted to compound the tide hazard. These conditions could result in flooded beaches, floating logs, large waves breaking high up on shore and extremely hazardous surf conditions. The most dangerous period of the day is likely to be at high tide from mid-morning to mid- afternoon.

Depending of the severity of the flooding seas, select beach parking lots and beach areas in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve may be temporarily closed to protect visitor safety.

Please respect all temporary closures and follow directions on any associated postings.

Park visitors interested in viewing large waves are advised to use the following safer locations:

K^wisitis Visitor Centre’s Observation Deck at Wickaninnish Beach

Florencia Bay Lookout

By Monday night, Gales offshore will build the swells up to 3 metres with waves on top of that to deliver extreme conditions for high tide on Tuesday.

Rainy Thanksgiving Sunday

On Sunday things will switch quite dramatically. Clouds will come in Saturday night and deliver some showers before you get up in the morning and those showers will turn into widespread rain on Sunday morning between 8-11AM.

UWash predicta 16-32mm to fall in just that 3 hour period so that is a good steady rain. Good time to stay indoors and enjoy the smell of the turkey cooking. Or if you want to venture out, heading out to Stamp Falls park is something I really like to do in the rain.

The rain should taper to showers through the afternoon and then end before 8PM Sunday night.

Showers early Monday

Showers will linger into Monday morning and will probably be accompanied by some wind. We should still get some sunny breaks though and the temperature should get back up to around 13-15°C in the afternoon.