We’ll look at ships on the river today, and also talk about the relationship between wind and waves.

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Today we’ll take a look at ship traffic and talk a little about the fairly standard color scheme you see on the bulk carriers that anchor here.

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We’ve had some interesting weather this week, including a thunderstorm warning that didn’t quite materialize. But along with that storm came bad weather at sea, so difficult that the Columbia River Bar was on red status for the past day or so. That means ship traffic has been halted going in and out of the river temporarily, until sea conditions improve.

Ships will starting moving again today, and that creates some interesting patterns relating to ship transits, in the aftermath of bad weather. So we’ll talk about that today.

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We got through our odd and threatening forecast yesterday, but while things have calmed down on land, they remain turbulent in the ocean offshore.

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Wendesday’s weather forecast carries the risk of damaging thunderstorms, hail and high winds. It’s an evolving weather situation, and it bears watching. Keep an eye on your weather apps. local radio, weather radio, and other means of checking weather updates. Risk is greatest along the Willamette Valley corridor but some risk also for the coast.

The Columbia River Bar is on Yellow status as of Tuesday evening.

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It’s spring break and folks will be out enjoying the river. There are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to the Columbia and related waterways, and that includes spring runoff and all it brings: cold water, fast currents and dangerous debris in the river.

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We’ll take a look at who’s coming and going on the river today, and at some of the patterns we see in ships that come here often.

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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as part of its investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore a year ago, is recommending that 68 bridges nationwide be evaluated to determine their hardiness in case of a ship strike. The Baltimore bridge was hit by a 1000 foot long container ship and collapsed.

On the list are three local bridges: the Astoria Megler Bridge, the Lewis and Clark Bridge in Longview, and the St Johns Bridge in Portland.

The NTSB recommendations are purely precautionary and not based on existing safety concerns. The NTSB believes that had the Baltimore bridge been inspected as they are recommending now, that tragedy could have been avoided.

The NTSB has compiled a list of bridges nationwide in need of assessment, based on criteria such as age, clearance, and whether they have support piers in the water.

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Today we’ll talk about the vernal equinox, the first day of astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Did you know that the sun rises exactly in the east today and sets precidely in the west? We’ll talk about this and other interesting fact about the first day of spring.

The Tug Aurora and her barge, the Aloha Spirit, at anchor off Astoria.

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At high tide the river off Astoria seems like a wide uninterrupted expanse of river. At low tide, mudflats abound. Today we’ll talk about the complexity of rivers and why they pose challenges for vessels.

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