March may have been drier than normal, however, April will more than make up for that! At about the ½ way point in the month, we are only about an inch above the norm compared to last year at this time when we were 8” above normal. That will change over the weekend. Just take a look at the Water Vapor Imagery from this morning which really does look like a firehose aimed right at the Northwest.
The most breeze will certainly be today as the strong warm front shown in the charts moves inland. The winds will ease late tonight as the cold front shown behind the warm front slowly moves into the Pacific NW. This cold front will eventually stall over Western Washington on Saturday before it begins to dissipate. This will result in a light northerly flow on Sunday as a weak cold front shift east into Oregon. By Sunday evening we can expect weak onshore flow as this system moves inland. All the while accompanied by rain. Welcome to Spring in the Pacific Northwest.
Click any image to enlarge.
This will keep sailors on their toes both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning expect 8-12 from the south until around noon when it will start to drop off. Another southerly pulse of breeze will probably show up from the SSE by mid-afternoon this could be as high as 20 knots. This will ease just after sunset as flow starts down the Straits and into the Sound. Sunday will just be light northerlies becoming spotty by midday. At least it will still be raining but not nearly as much as we are expecting tomorrow. This upcoming week will be interesting as you look at the surface chart for Tuesday which shows a vigorous low-pressure system on the International Dateline with a very long frontal system attached and moving our way, possibly by next weekend.
Be safe and 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)