As we suspected yesterday the trajectory for this storm has shifted to very slightly further offshore which will not diminish the impact to the coastal waters but will slightly reduce the impact to the interior of western Washington. Still, this is a dangerous storm and you shouldn’t back off on your preparations. Again, it will largely depend upon where you are as to the impact so I will try to break it down by area.
Overnight we had some impressive wind speeds around the Northwest. Diamond Pt/Discovery Bay 48 knots, Buoy Juliet Alpha at the entrance to Straits 40 knots, and Destruction Island 59 knots. Today we’ve already seen 35 at West Point and 53 at Cape Disappointment.
Take a look at the Surface charts and note how fast these storm systems are moving towards us and then compare the forecast picture from yesterday to today and note that the system has moved offshore, slightly. It currently is projected to come onshore at Barkley Sound on Vancouver Island, after 1800 hours tomorrow evening.
Time/Date Location Wind Speed Gusts Direction
Fri/1300 Newport-NeahBay 30-40 55 SSW
Oly-Sisters 30-40 50 SSE
1600 Newp-NB 25-35 50 SSW
Oly to Halibut Bank 25-35 45 SSW
Amphitrite-Race Rocks 25-35 45 WSW
1900 Newp-NB 20-30 35 WSW
Olympia- Pt Townsend(PT) 15-25 35 SSW
Cattle Pass-Nanaimo 15-25 35 SW
Amphitrite Pt-RR 25-30 35 WSW
From about 2100 Friday to 0400 Saturday a slight break in the action over the Northwest.
Sat/0700 Coos Bay-Columbia River 30-40 50 S
PtNoPt-Patos Isl 20-30 40 SE
1100 Coos Bay(CB) – Westport (WP) 25-35 45 E
Noon Coastal Waters 40-50 60+ SSE
Oly-Admiralty Inlet 15-25 30 ESE
1300 Coastal Waters 40-50 60+ SSW
Oly-PT 20-30 45 SSE
Eastern Straits Of JdF 30-40 50 ESE
San Juans (SJI)-Strait Georgia 30-40 50 ESE
1500 Coastal Waters 40-50 60+ SE
Oly-PtNoPt 15-25 35 SE
PtNoPt-Nanaimo 25-35 40 SE
Race Rocks-Tofino 25-35 45 SE
1800 Coastal Waters 40-50 60+ SSW
Oly-PtNoPt 30-40 50+ S
PtNoPt-Sisters 40-50 60+ SE
Sheringham-Barkely Snd 40-50 60+ SSE
This is when the Low should pass into Vancouver Island between Barkley Sound and Uclulet.
2100 Coastal Waters 30-40 50+ WSW
Oly-PtNoPt 30-40 50+ S
PtNoPt-Sisters 40-50 60+ ESE
Tofino-Race Rocks(RR) 30-40 50+ WSW
2400 Coastal Waters 25-35 40+ SW
Oly-West Point 10-20 30 SSW
PtNoPt-Halibut Bank 20-30 35+ S
0300 Sunday
Newport-Westport 20-30 40 SSW
Oly-PtNoPt 10-20 30 S
PtNoPt-Halibut Bank 20-30 40 S
Hein Bank-Sheringham 5-10 WSW
Sheringham-Amphitrite 20-30 35 SW
0600 Newp-NeahBay 30-40 50 S
Oly-Elliott Bay 10-20 25 S
Elliott Bay-PtNoPt 15-20 25 SSE
PtNoPt-Halibut Bnk 25-30 35+ SSE
Sheringham-Brooks Peninsula 15-20 25 ESE
As you can see, this is as we said a prolonged wind and rain event. The problems with wind combined with a high tide will be that as boats rock up and down in the marinas, the fenders will ride up and on to the dock which will leave a nasty mark on any hull. In addition, there will be chafe on the mooring lines which will lead to breakage. As my dear old Dad said, “There is no substitute for a close visual inspection. You also have to see what you’re looking at.”
For boat owners and marina operators this will mean walking the docks to see what’s going on and working ahead of potential problems.
I’ll get another one of these out tomorrow morning.
Be safe out there.
Bruce has raced and cruised the Pacific Northwest his entire life. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Washington in Biological Oceanography and learned meteorology “to keep from getting kicked around on the race course.” Bruce spent nearly two decades as Associate Publisher for Northwest Yachting Magazine, retiring in mid-2015, and was the chairman of the board of trustees for the Northwest Marine Trade Association in 2014. (photo of Bruce driving Playstation is a bit dated, but cool)