A Human Storm Surge in Oregon

WALDPORT, Ore. —  “Winter storm watch.”

To the National Weather Service, that phrase means bad weather is coming. To fishermen, boaters and other outdoor enthusiasts, it often means canceling a planned outing.

To people like Gary Telfer, however, it means fun.

Telfer, you see, is a dedicated storm watcher.

“I think it’s just as exciting to watch a storm as it is to watch a football or basketball game,” Telfer said after venturing into the teeth of the first big storm of the season on the Oregon coast.

And there’s no place like the Oregon coast for storm watching, Telfer said. That’s why he and his wife moved to Waldport after he retired from a railroad job in Chicago.

Telfer and other storm watchers are likely to see lots of action during the winter of 1998-99. Meteorologists say the “La Nina” weather pattern taking shape over the Pacific Ocean will generate plenty of wet, windy weather.

Telfer got hooked on storm watching while visiting the Oregon coast one Christmas about 35 years ago. He loved it so much that he would drive several hours from Yakima just to watch the Pacific Ocean’s assault on the coastline.

“A lot of people look out there and see nothing but wave after wave, and they ask me how I can stand to look at the same thing over and over again,” Telfer said. “I say it’s like one of those sports I mentioned, where every game is a little bit different.”

Wind, water and crashing waves are the key players in these captivating coastal thrillers.

During a severe storm, waves along the Oregon coast can reach up to 20 feet high. The water might be bright blue, dark green or a dishwater gray. But it’s always frosted with a foamy froth whipped up by the wind.

The soundtrack is as much a part of the show as for a Hollywood action thriller.

Winds howl, shriek and make normal conversation impossible. The surf booms like a kettle drum.

“Mother Nature puts on a unique winter show on the coast, and there’s no better place to witness it than at Newport,” said Phil Hutchinson, executive director of the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce. “You can really enjoy Mother Nature here at her fiercest.”

Storm watchers and whale watchers have added life to the once-dreary winter tourist season on the coast, Hutchinson said.

“It never occurred to me when I moved here eight years ago that people would actually come here because of an approaching storm, but we’re finding it’s becoming more and more popular all the time,” he said. “It’s becoming a major activity.”

Not everyone, of course, wants to be out in the storm like Telfer.

“If you’re dressed warm and have the right gear, it can be quite exhilarating, no question about it,” Hutchinson said. “But it isn’t for the fainthearted.”

Those who seek the thrills without the chills simply can find snug harbors in motels or restaurants with a good view of the ocean.

Telfer said the quality of storm watching varies with location and stage of the tide.

As a general rule, he said, the best storm shows occur when “you’ve got good, strong winds--gusts to 50 mph or more--heavy surf and a high tide.”

Tide is a factor because it affects how ocean storm surges interact with the rocks and the shoreline.

Telfer’s “all-time favorite” storm-watching spot is in the Cape Perpetua area.

“At a place called Cook’s Chasm, there’s a blowhole there and the water will shoot as high up as the bridge, which is probably 100 to 125 feet into the air,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dee Melander of the Reedsport Chamber of Commerce said the Winchester Bay harbor “is just a wonderful place to go down there and sit near the jetty--not on the jetty--and watch the waves crash in.”

For closer views, Melander suggests a spot at Shore Acres State Park, south of Charleston near Coos Bay.

The park’s seven-acre botanical garden includes “kind of a glassed-in area where you can stay warm and dry but you’ve got the water just splashing almost right over you,” Melander said. “It’s a nice place for somebody who wants to see it, but who is not a good old Oregon storm watcher who gets right out in it.”

Storm-watching season in Oregon will continue through the end of February at least.

Storm watchers get another benefit. “We get some great beachcombing right after a storm,” Hutchinson said.