Friday, October 16, 2026

The Weather Service offices in Brownsville and Corpus Christi have high rip current and coastal flood advisories for the Texas barrier islands through Sunday morning, October 18, and a high surf advisory for breaking waves of 3 to 13 feet from Cameron to Kenedy counties. Water is expected to reach or push into the dunes on South Padre Island, so only four-wheel-drive, high-clearance vehicles will be able to drive the beach, including north of Public Beach Access 3. Expect minor to moderate erosion, and stay out of the water if you are not a strong swimmer.

The Clearwater River, the main tributary of the Queets on Washington's Olympic coast, is closed to all fishing from its mouth upstream starting October 16, until further notice, under an emergency rule from the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In-season monitoring in the Queets basin shows coho harvest well below projections, suggesting this year's return may come in under the preseason forecast. A dry summer left the rivers low, so Chinook and coho have been holding in the lower river instead of moving up to spawn. Recent rain has moved some fish, but managers remain concerned about how many will reach the spawning grounds.

The department says it may reopen the river if conditions improve. It follows similar low-water measures on the coast this month, including the reduced limits and bait ban on the Quillayute. WDFW's Coastal Region office is at 360-249-4628.

Washington Fish and Wildlife has updated the Skagit River coho rules, effective immediately through October 31, and changed the dates of the closures for tribal fisheries that this paper reported on October 9.

On the Skagit from Gilligan Creek, east of Sedro-Woolley, to the Baker River, the river was closed to all fishing on October 15 only. It is open October 16 through 18 under the coho rules, closed to all species October 19 through 21, and open again October 22 through 31. The earlier rule had listed a closure from October 12 through 15.

The Cascade River from the mouth to the Rockport-Cascade Road bridge is now open seven days a week for salmon and game fish; it had been closed Sundays through Tuesdays. The salmon limit there is four coho, at least 12 inches.

The rest is unchanged: a two-coho limit on the Skagit from the mouth up to the Marblemount Bridge, 12-inch minimum, all other salmon released, bait banned and single-point barbless hooks required for salmon on both rivers.

Two dead snowshoe hares found in Glacier National Park's Many Glacier Valley have tested positive for tularemia, a rare but serious bacterial disease, the park said October 15. One was found September 26 in the Park Service staff housing area at Many Glacier, and the other September 30 along the trail to the Swiftcurrent Falls viewing area.

Tularemia occurs naturally and is most often spread by bites from infected ticks or flies. People and pets can also catch it from handling infected animals, from contaminated food or water, or by breathing bacteria released from disturbed carcasses. Person-to-person spread is rare.

The park's precautions: use insect repellent and check yourself, children and pets for ticks; wash your hands often; keep away from wildlife and do not touch carcasses; drink only treated or boiled water; and avoid anything, like mowing or trimming, that could disturb dead animals. Report dead animals to park staff.

Symptoms in people include fever, chills, aches, headache, dry cough, chest pain, swollen lymph nodes and sores at a tick bite. Anyone who develops them within two weeks of visiting should see a doctor and mention possible tularemia exposure; it is treatable with antibiotics.

The federal incident report filed Thursday evening, the day Yosemite was scheduled to take command of the Dome Fire back from the interagency team, shows 278 people still assigned, down from 524 a day earlier. The fire holds at 6,788 acres and 95 percent contained. Glacier Point Road and the Chilnualna Falls, Alder Creek, Four Mile and Panorama trails are open; the trails inside the fire footprint, including Ostrander, Mono Meadow and Buena Vista, remain closed.