A high surf advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service for ocean beaches, effective through Saturday at 6 a.m.
Officials warn clam diggers they should be on alert for potentially dangerous conditions.
The Weather Service also issued a coastal flood watch for Saturday morning through Saturday afternoon.
The high surf will make it extremely dangerous to fish or observe waves from rocks Friday afternoon through Saturday, said Chuck Wallace, deputy director of Grays Harbor Emergency Management.
Significant wave run up on beaches is likely and potential significant beach erosion is possible, he said. Low lying coastal communities such as Westport, Ocean Shores, Taholah and possibly Aberdeen may see minor flooding around the Saturday morning high tide at 11 a.m., Wallace said.
The Weather Service said a strong storm system will produce energetic 23 to 25 foot swells on Friday, decreasing to 20-23 feet on Saturday. This wave action will likely produce beach erosion along the coast on Friday and Saturday. An astronomical high tide is expected to occur 11 a.m. Saturday morning at 11.4 feet in Aberdeen. The combination of the high tide and the swell may produce some minor coastal flooding in areas such as Westport, Ocean Shores and possible low lying areas of Aberdeen.
Weekend clam digs are all night digs, with little to no moonlight, making the high surf potentially more dangerous.
Clam digs are:
Friday, Dec. 19 -4:41pm
Saturday, Dec. 20 – 5:23pm
Sunday, Dec 21 – 6:06pm
Monday, Dec. 22 - 6:48pm
Tuesday, Dec 23 – 7:31pm
In addition to the high swell, a high astronomical tide, (King Tide), is predicted Saturday morning along the Washington coast, and tides are running around a foot above predicted values. The King Tides are naturally occurring and are the highest tides of the year. King Tides will occur the entire weekend through Tuesday along the entire Washington Coast.
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