It is beginning to look a lot like summer, especially considering that summer officially starts today and from now on, the days will be shorter, just as the weather starts to get much nicer, bummer! We did have over a half an inch of rain this week which is always welcome this time of the year however we are still behind for the month by over ¼ of an inch and by almost four (4) inches for the year. By late summer this may come back to haunt us.
21 June 500MB 
21 June Surface Analysis 
22 June Surface Forecast 
23 June 500MB 
23 June Surface Forecast 
24 June Surface Forecast 
25 June Surface Forecast
It will still be a great weekend to be on the water with the caveat that the Central and Eastern Straits of JdF, the San Juan and Gulf Islands, and Admiralty Inlet could see some breezy conditions especially in the late afternoon and early evening hours through Sunday. Plan your voyage accordingly.
The surface charts show the reason for this. We have a relatively weak and amorphously shaped high-pressure system offshore (1029-1032MB) and a weak (1025MB) high inland over Northern BC and SE Alaska. We also have a weak low-pressure system (1014MB) over Eastern Washington. These systems will move and change over the weekend which will cause the onshore flow to fluctuate in velocity but generally be increasing in the late afternoon and into the evening as a function of thermal heating inland. So while things may start out a bit light in the morning, the breeze will tend to increase through the day.
The 500MB chart for today also has an interesting feature with not one but TWO cutoff upper-level lows, one in the Gulf of Alaska and one in the Bering Sea. They won’t last long but they exist as a result of the wacky path the jetstream is on, going way north into the Alaskan and Canadian interior and then sweeping almost back to our coast before heading into mid-America. This should allow for the Pacific High to stabilize and strengthen as we get closer to July. However, before it does we may be brushed by a series of weak frontal systems which could bring southerly breezes to the coastal waters the early part of next week.
In the meanwhile, enjoy your weekend, use lots of sunblock, and be safe.
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)