July 11-12th
Tidepooling, glowing critters, and more!
Hope everybody's Fourth of July weekend was well spent and not too chaotic hahaha. After writing up the previous report, I've decided to reduce my recommendations to just the weekend so I can focus on creating some tools to make my forecasting more comprehensive and easier for myself to curate.
Fitting since tidepooling will be good, read below to hear more!
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The Top Hits
Bioluminescence
Due to the phase of the moon and warm summer temps in tow, I'd hit the beach once the sun has set in hopes of seeing bioluminescent plankton! Your best bet will technically be this coming Tuesday on July 14th, but the weekend still holds good prospects. Try getting away from as much light pollution as you can. However, if you cannot, I've seen it at Golden Gardens which is in North Seattle and it was still incredibly strong.
Stargazing
Sunday is the evening to target for this. Specifically around Mt. Rainier and Mt. St Helens. The other parts of the state are showing higher levels of cloud coverage.
Tidepooling
Low tides abound during the morning for you early risers. Seattle has a -2 and -3 ft tide around 9 am Saturday and Sunday. That means the Puget Sound will have a great opportunity to view critters that you normally cannot see amongst rocky shoreline.
To see the exact time of low tides in your area head here:
Seattle Tides:
2026/07/11 Sat 08:49 AM -2.29 L
2026/07/12 Sun 09:40 AM -3.16 L
More Recommendations
Hiking
Wildflowers continue to make their debut as the weather continues to warm!
Saturday: If you'd like to avoid rain, I'd avoid the Olympics and North Cascades. They are showing potential rain. Central Cascades down to Rainier will have better weather conditions.
Sunday: No rain likely but for clear skies your best bet will be Mt Rainier followed closely by Mt. St Helens and the Central Cascades. Other areas are of the state are still looking wonderful so if you're eyeing something in particular, send it!
Foraging
Crabbing season is likely just opening in your area! Dungeness crab is quite delectable and Washington is a great place where they are decently abundant. Take a look below on how to get started:
Season dates based on marine areas:
Map of the different marine areas
Diving
Reports continue to be fairly average but if you've got a hankering at least it's warm outside!
Surf
The Northern Olympic coast shows potential if you'd like to head out! Won't be the day of days out there but I think it'll be fun. Big board are advised for most areas!
Snow
We are pretty much getting to stratovolcanoes only right now. Saw a picture of Bagley Basin near Mt. Baker and looks to be a lot of hopping between snow and ground. What are stratovolcanoes you ask, well those are the largest peaks in the state: Rainier, Baker, and Glacier Peak. Happy hunting for the folks trying for Turns All Year - skiing every month of the year! Hoorah!