Bruce’s Brief: WEATHER UPDATE: Friday afternoon to Sunday morning

1800 Saturday
1800 Saturday

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.

 

 

 

 

 

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