Bruce’s Brief’s: Wx for 8, 9, and 10 Feb. Remember last Friday? Simply Repeat.

Weather has been getting a lot of coverage this week and now we are going to get more of the same this weekend and into next week, starting with significant snowfall tonight extending into tomorrow morning. Along with the snow we’ll have more gusty northeasterly breezes with the northern Washington counties and southern BC getting the worst of it. 40+ knots with gusts to 60! For the central and southern Sound 25-35 with higher gusts.

The chart for today shows why and that is that monster 1052MB high-pressure system over the interior of BC that will funnel cold air into the Pacific NW through the Fraser River Valley. The forecast chart shows this high building to 1055MB which will create a pressure differential of 54MB which is huge. Batten down those hatches.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The other feature of note is that low-pressure system just to the north of Hawaii. This is not moving very far or very fast and as a result will bring high winds (40+ knots of northerly), high seas (waves of 60+ feet), and plenty of rain which will cause more flooding especially on the north shores of Kauai and Oahu. When you go to the 72Hr 500MB chart you’ll notice that this has become a cutoff low. Most of the time these don’t amount to much however there have been some significant events linked to these, The Perfect Storm, The Fastnet that took 18 lives, the Sydney-Hobart Race that took 9 lives, and Hurricane Sandy. This will bear watching.

I have also included a satellite pic from GOES West because with any kind of luck these will be the last B&W pics we have to deal with because unless something goes really wrong GOES 17 will come online next week with full color and higher resolution pics. By higher resolution I mean being able to pick out individual thunderstorm cells, squalls, and a host of other interesting weather phenomena.

Check your boat today if you have time and remember that there is still significant freshwater on top of Puget Sound especially near where rivers and creeks feed into the Sound. Freshwater can get into your thru-hulls and when we have those prolonged freezing spells it can freeze and crack those fittings. So leave all your locker doors open especially around sinks, the thru-hulls for the head, and the raw water intake for the engine. Set a heater on low and keep the air circulating. It doesn’t take much to keep that water from causing damage. While you’re there give the mooring lines and fenders a close inspection as well. 

Stay warm and have a great weekend.

Ed. Note: Just because I can, I want to write the words snowpocolypse and stormageddon. As part of the media, I want to be sure to my bit to further the hype. I feel better now. –KH