Well, it certainly has been an interesting week! Plus the weather has been its usual interesting self as well with the possibility that we’ll break the record for consecutive days over 60⁰ in November. Record high temperatures in the Midwest and Eastern US, latest time for no temperatures below freezing, the list goes on and on. Now the wags are talking about a La Niña winter. This usually means a wetter and cooler than “normal” whatever that is. As we say however, it’s what’s in Nature that’s real. So we’ll just keep looking at the weather models and try to figure more ways to go boating this time of the year because now is a GREAT time to go boating. The weather can be beautiful and the anchorages are pretty much empty. We do however have to watch the weather a little closer as this is the time of cold fronts, small craft and gale warnings. Much like this weekend.
The Friday chart looks pretty innocuous with five low pressure systems in the Pacific and a cold front headed right at us. The leading edge of which is currently showing up on the Doppler radar. The Saturday morning chart shows the front ever closer which means increasing wind over the area.
The Sunday morning chart shows an even more intense system approaching the coast with four pretty healthy low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska just getting ready to send more fronts our way. The Tuesday morning surface chart is even more interesting as it appears there will be an endless succession of lows headed into the Pacific Northwest and maybe even northern California which as always, could use the rain. A look at the 500 MB charts shows why this will be pretty relentless since the jet stream is aimed right at us.
So yes, you can go cruising or you can just go down to the marina, take care of some winterizing chores and spend the weekend on the boat reading all those owner’s manuals that you promised yourself you’d get around to eventually. Regardless, always check the VHF for current conditions and plot the barometric pressure. If you have wifi on the boat check the graphs on the NDBC web sites that track wind speed and barometric pressure tendencies. Whatever you do, don’t put yourself, your crew or your boat in harm’s way by taking unnecessary chances.
Enjoy the weekend!
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)