Put a mark on your calendar, as of today we are BEHIND in the amount of rainfall we would normally have on this date for the month! We are however still 2.3” ahead for the year. The good news is that we should have a pretty nice weekend, the only downside is that it will be chilly.
As you can see from the charts we’ll have an offshore flow developing from the high pressure (1042mb) that is building over the interior of British Columbia. This will bring cold air out of the Canadian interior and certainly into the northern part of the Salish Sea. This flow will ease on Saturday. Being the first day the ridge is established we’ll have a nice northerly in the Sound overnight and then ease as the day goes on. We’ll have a weak front move through the area Sunday with the offshore flow returning for a brief visit Monday then switching back to an onshore flow on Tuesday.
For those of you leaving town on Thursday to do the Islands Race next weekend, (Long Beach Start, Catalina and San Clemente to port, finish in San Diego) I would pay particular attention to the 500MB chart and that 549MB upper level low centered over your race course and watch how that moves as you get closer to the start of racing.
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)
The next big one is for Toliva Shoal. Polish up your crystal ball.