Last Saturday I had planned to do three of my favorite things. Take a long beach walk (with Fran), play pickleball with Ocean Hills friends, and play a few hours of bridge with new friends Terri, Tom, and Phyllis, then have dinner. A perfect day. Not so fast.
I woke up early to raindrops, and a call from Fran. The weather service had issued a tsunami advisory, and she wanted to cancel our walk and go look at the waves. We couldn't walk anyway because if was raining. My pickleball game was cancelled because of wet courts, but thankfully my bridge game and dinner was still on for later in the afternoon. So, I took Pepper for a walk in between raindrops, read for a while, and did a little cooking. (made some delicious WW mushroom soup).
The tsunami advisory got me interested in exactly what was a tsunami advisory, and how did it differ from a tsunami warning. First, a tsunami is a series of waves in a body of water (usually the ocean) caused by displacement of a large volume of water, usually an underground earthquake or volcano. On January 15 there was a volcanic eruption in Tonga that caused the tsunami advisory.
A tsunami advisory tells you there is potential to generate strong currents and beware. Stay out of the water and boats until told it is safe to return. It could be several days. A tsunami warning is much more serious and immediate. It is issued when the tsunami has the potential to generate widespread inundation. An advisory does not necessarily mean big waves (although it could). A warning does mean big waves and absolutely stay away from areas close to shore.
If you look at the weather app on your phone (mine is set for Oceanside), click on Learn More. It will tell you all about the details of the weather forecast. That's where I found out that this current advisory was caused by an underground volcano in Tonga. Just thought you might like to know.
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