12/20 Snowflake, snowstorm, WA zero-emission, seaweed farming, many whales, catch the Current

Snowflake [Alexey Kljatov/WikiCommons]

Snowflake
A snowflake is a single ice crystal that has achieved a sufficient size, and may have amalgamated with others, which falls through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.[1][2][3] Each flake nucleates around a dust particle in supersaturated air masses by attracting supercooled cloud water droplets, which freeze and accrete in crystal form. Complex shapes emerge as the flake moves through differing temperature and humidity zones in the atmosphere, such that individual snowflakes differ in detail from one another, but may be categorized in eight broad classifications and at least 80 individual variants. (Wikipedia)

Ferries, flights cancelled as blowing snow blankets B.C.'s South Coast (CBC)  Yes, we’re ‘doing this again.’ Whatcom wakes up to snow and freezing fog. Now what? (Bellingham Herald)

WA adopts zero-emission standards for car sales by 2035
All new cars sold in the state of Washington must be mostly emission-free by 2035.On Monday, the Washington State Department of Ecology updated its Clean Vehicles Program to require all new cars sold in the state by 2035 to be electric, hydrogen-fueled or hybrid with at least 50 miles of electric-only range. Isabella Breda reports. (Seattle Times)

Swelling school of seaweed farmers looking to anchor in Northwest waters
Prospective kelp growers who want to join the handful of existing commercial seaweed farms in the Pacific Northwest are having to contend with a lengthy permitting process. It's gotten contentious in a few cases, but even so, at least a couple of new seaweed farms stand on the cusp of approval. Their harvests could be sold for human food, animal feed or fertilizer. Tom Banse reports. (NW News Network)  See also: Can kelp farming help save our marine environment? Richard Arlin Walker reports. (Salish Current, 10/7/22)

Lots of whales spotted around offshore wind farm zones along West Coast
The federal government has commissioned Oregon State University to look into the possible impacts of offshore wind farms on marine wildlife. In the first year of this four-year project, the researchers spotted sizable numbers of seabirds and whales — including the largest animal on Earth — in the Oregon and Northern California areas that could one day host floating wind farms. Tom Banse reports. (NW News Network)

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Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  258 AM PST Tue Dec 20 2022   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST TODAY   
TODAY  NE wind 15 to 25 kt becoming NW to 10 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 1 ft in the  afternoon. NW swell 4 ft at 8 seconds. A slight chance of rain in  the morning. 
TONIGHT  NW wind to 10 kt becoming NE after midnight. Wind  waves 1 to 2 ft. NW swell 4 ft at 6 seconds.

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