The tsunami that never showed up after scary alerts

MIKE WHITEHEAD

Ahoy.

On Tuesday evening, I saw a few diehard surfers waxing their

boards, hoping to catch the largest wave to hit our beaches and

become the first person to ride a wave over the peninsula.

I wonder if any boat owners were planning to cast off for the high

seas, where a tsunami is just a huge swell that boats typically ride

over with little notice.

The word tsunami is formed from two Japanese words -- “tsu,”

meaning harbor, and “nami” for wave. Many people refer to a tsunami

as a tidal wave, but keep in mind that tides are created by the sun

and moon, and tsunamis are created by the vertical displacement of

water.

Our local police, fire and lifeguard departments started to

initiate the proper procedures with the limited information issued by

the National Weather Service, where someone apparently had a knee

jerk reaction from thoughts of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Just think

of how many times you have turned on the news to hear there had been

another earthquake off the Pacific Coast, yet no tsunami warnings.

The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Network of the National

Weather Service (https://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/) was quick to cry wolf..

It could have looked at the readings from one of its 25 weather

buoys floating in the ocean between Newport Harbor and the epicenter.

I have written about these buoys for years and about how we, the

professional yacht delivery captains, use these buoys to predict sea

conditions, especially swell height.

If a tsunami is very probable or is detected, then the tsunami

warnings should be issued to the public, but the warning should

include the estimated time of arrival and the estimated swell height.

You can easily calculate the arrival by dividing the distance by the

speed of the swell.

Crescent City is approximately 638 nautical miles by water from

Newport Beach, and the average speed of a tsunami is 450 miles per

hour. So, 638 nautical miles is 734 statue miles divided by 450 mph,

which gives an estimated time of arrival of just over an hour and

half.

Now, that is very useful information in determining if you have

enough time to watch from the bluffs or only enough time to get to

the rooftops of the tallest buildings in the area.

I personally like the weather information provide by the National

Weather Service, but I am disappointed by the response to this recent

event. We need timely, accurate information, or the public will

become numb to any future warnings. I wonder how many waterfront

businesses were affected or how many vehicle mishaps were caused by

people panicking.

Future warnings may be in jeopardy anyway, judging from the recent

Senate Bill S786 -- the National Weather Services Duties Act of 2005

-- which was introduced by Sen. Rick Santorum in Washington, D.C. The

bill was read twice and then referred to the Committee on Commerce,

Science and Transportation. It looks like Santorum wants to limit how

the forecasts are distributed to the public and other private

reporting services.

The bill has the potential of stopping the National Weather

Service from issuing public notices or providing any information on

the Internet. Therefore, you would have to use a private Internet

service to view the information that your tax dollars were used to

gather for you. This makes no sense to me, since with the age of the

Internet, the National Weather Service should continue to be the

leader in disseminating data in real time and displaying the data in

useful ways.

Tune in to the No. 1 boating talk radio show in the nation, “Capt.

Mike Whitehead’s Boathouse Radio Show.” It airs every Saturday from

noon to 1 p.m. on KCBQ-AM (1170). You can join me, Chandler Bell and

Eric Hovland by calling the listener line at (888) 344-1170.

Safe voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send

him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by

e-mail to [email protected] or visit https://www.boathousetv.com.