Bruce’s Storm Brief – Don’t be Complacent!

Don’t be lulled into complacency by the relative calm we’re currently experiencing in the Seattle area, the wind is coming. It just looks like our coastal buffer zone has once again done its job by slowing the approach of this system and deflecting it into BC. As you can see from the plots of wind speed and barometric pressure at Smith Island, West Point, and Destruction Island, the pressure is still dropping. The other interesting feature of these graphs is the slope of the barometric pressure line which shows how much faster the pressure is dropping up at Smith Island and how much faster the wind speed is increasing. This would tell us that, as we said yesterday, conditions will be more severe along the coast (52 knots at Destruction Island now), in the eastern end of the Straits and the northern end ofAdmiralty Inlet than in the central and south Sound.

Click any image to enlarge.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Right now, it appears the front will pass the coast about mid-afternoon bringing stronger breezes into the central and south Sound with it. This will persist through the early evening before the post-frontal conditions kick in and the pressure gradient begins to ease over the area. The next system will start to show up in the offshore waters early Saturday morning and then in the eastern end of the Straits by midday Saturday. Conditions in the central and south Sound won’t be bad on Saturday or Sunday however you should always check on conditions because there could be pockets of 20-25 knots of southerly.

Click any image to enlarge.

• 

• 

• 

The 48 hour surface forecast still shows what the upcoming week will be light with a succession of low-pressure systems lining up offshore. While they may be deflected to the north of us, the fronts will still drag over our area bringing wind and more rain. Not such good news for the skiers because this next system will drive the freezing level up to over 5500 feet, melting snow and increasing the possibility of some minor flooding in the lowlands.

Interesting times!

Have a great weekend.