Cold water, hidden hazards: What WA boaters, swimmers need to know before hitting the water this summer

With Memorial Day around the corner and a warmer-than-average summer in the forecast, Washington officials are marking the third annual Water Safety Day on Friday with a stark warning: The state’s waterways are dangerously cold, drowning deaths are climbing, and a life jacket could save your life.

The message came from a panel of water safety experts who are addressing growing concerns about recreational water deaths, particularly in King County, where preventable drowning fatalities have roughly doubled over the past decade.

A hotter summer means more people on frigid water

Ted Buehner, a consulting meteorologist with 40 years of experience at the National Weather Service, said the summer outlook calls for warmer and drier conditions, a trend he said has persisted “all century long at this point.”

That means more people on the water — and rising gas prices are pushing even more recreationists toward human-powered vessels such as paddleboards and kayaks, Buehner said.

But the water remains perilously cold. Puget Sound is hovering just above 52 degrees Fahrenheit, while Lake Union, Lake Washington, and Lake Sammamish are all in the 50s. Rivers fed by Cascade and Olympic snowmelt are even colder, ranging from the mid-40s to the lower 50s.

“In other words, if you accidentally fall in the water, it is cold,” Buehner told “Seattle’s Morning News.” “And you know what it’s like to walk into a cold shower.”

Drowning deaths climb as rivers hide new dangers

Tony Gomez, a water safety and drowning prevention advocate with Public Health — Seattle & King County, said the region recorded 25 preventable drowning deaths last year, with eight of those boating-related. Over half occurred in natural waters, including rivers, lakes, ponds, and the Puget Sound. Forty percent of drownings happen during the summer months.

Gomez raised an additional concern: Recent flooding has altered river courses across the region, creating hidden hazards in waterways that may have been safe in prior years.

“The Green, the Cedar, the Snoqualmie — there are log jams, there are new woody debris out there,” Gomez said. “A place that may have been relatively safe last year is no longer the case.”

He warned that anyone pinned against submerged logs or rocks by river current faces forces nearly impossible to overcome.

“It’s like trying to push a car off of you,” Gomez said.

‘Wear your life jacket’: A simple message, statewide reach

Rob Sendak, who manages the boating and winter recreation programs at Washington State Parks, kept his message simple: “Wear your life jacket. Wear your life jacket. Wear your life jacket.”

Sendak said the state boating program has dramatically expanded its education efforts, growing from 9,300 students last year to more than 40,000 this year across all 39 Washington counties. Teachers are delivering curriculum focused on life jacket use, cold water shock, and the “reach, throw, don’t go” rescue principle.

Free life jackets — and a warning for would-be rescuers

Ashley Seidel, a communications consultant for the state parks boating program, noted that Friday also marks Wear Your Life Jacket at Work Day. She encouraged the public to take advantage of more than 200 free life jacket loaner stations located at water access points statewide.

“If you show up at a lake and you think, ‘Oh, I don’t have my life jacket,’ look around,” Seidel said. “There’s probably a loaner station near you.”

Seidel also stressed that bystanders who witness someone in distress should resist the urge to jump in. Instead, she said, reach out with a paddle or oar, throw something that floats, but stay on shore.

“The most important thing is not to go into the water to try to rescue somebody,” Seidel said. “Do what you can from the shore.”

National Safe Boating Week runs May 16-22. More information is available here.

Manda Factor is the co-host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. Follow Manda on X and email her here. 

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