Bruce’s Brief’s Wx for 27, 28, & 29 April. For Smith Island Race, the ebb’s the good news

I’m not sure where the mainstream doom and gloom forecasters are getting the breezy part of the forecast for tomorrow. It simply isn’t going to happen. The breeze is definitely on for the Straits, it’s already 31 knots from the west at Race Rocks as part of the onshore flow that will continue to develop through today and then ease after midnight. Unfortunately, this weekend will look much like last weekend with the onshore flow coming down the Straits and through the Chehalis Gap creating a convergence zone that will extend roughly from Pt. No Pt. to the San Juan Islands, right over the race course. That’s the bad news. The good news is that we’ll have an ebb to get us out of the starting area and up to the zone. Lunch in Kingston anyone?

Tidal Currents in Admiralty Inlet.

0818    3.32 knots Ebb

1142    Slack

1430    2.37 knots Flood

1724    Slack

2030    2.42 knots Ebb

2336    Slack

Click to enlarge any image:

The deal is that there probably isn’t any good news. No wind or very light air over Admiralty Inlet with the tide turning against us around noon. We are, in fact, paying for the very nice weather we’ve had the last couple of days. Record High temps, no rain, etc etc. It’s all going to change with the temperatures dropping, and rain coming on shore with a weak cold front you can plainly see in the Satellite Pics. It is already showing up on the Doppler from Langley Hill.

The charts show not much gradient over the Pacific Northwest for the next couple of days with nice weather returning by about mid-week.

Enjoy the weekend.

Bruce Hedrick

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)