Tsunami Debris May Not Pose Problems for Shores this Winter

By Jillian Macmath, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

September 28, 2012; 8:15PM,EDT

 

 

 

 

With winter rapidly approaching, Western coastal counties are worrying that tsunami debris from Japan may begin to wash ashore.
Winter storms have the ability to drive ocean debris toward the coast.
"During the fall and winter, storms across the North Pacific become much stronger. Meaning, the storms produce much stronger winds," AccuWeather.com Expert Meteorologist Dave Samuhel said.
"And these winds blow over a large area. The main wind comes from a westerly direction. So, this would push help push any debris from west to east. I.E. from Japan towards the U.S. and Canadian coasts."
But this winter might not drive as much debris toward the coast as some organizations originally anticipated.
There may be some early season storms that bring rain and snow in the Northwest during October and early November, but this winter's storms will be less frequent than normal in the Northwest, AccuWeather has predicted.
"Due to the fact that the tsunami debris has become more difficult to track, since it is more broken up now, and also that there will be less frequent winter storms in the Northwest this winter, it will be very hard to determine how much tsunami debris will wash up along the Northwest coast," AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Meghan Evans said.
"It's difficult to predict how much will reach the west coast of the U.S., but it may be less than originally estimated."
Some debris has already washed ashore, however, such as the large dock discovered on an Oregon beach in June.
California's annual coastal clean up early this month also produced some suspected tsunami debris items, though NOAA has not yet confirmed this. Items included two buoys and a plastic water bottle. Each item bore Japanese writing.
"We are currently tracking data on potential tsunami debris items, and will continue to do so in the coming months," Eben Schwartz, Marine Debris Program Manager for the California Coastal Commission, said.
"If we see that the trend in the collection of those items is heading upward, we will have a better idea that tsunami debris is beginning to wash ashore in bulk, and where it is happening. This will allow us to direct resources to the areas most in need of them," Schwartz said.