Ed. Note: We all owe Bruce a hearty thanks for all his Briefs this year. He loves sailing, and he loves safe sailing and preparing mariners. Here here to Bruce. Don’t forget, if you want some expert, professional routing for your big cruise or race, give him a shout.
The rain this last week certainly helped ease our deficit taking us from over seven inches behind to now only about three inches behind for the year plus there is snow in the mountains and there will be more.
As we discussed last week, another system slammed into Southern California closing the Grapevine on I-5 for almost 24-hours because of snow and this won’t be the last time this winter.
Dec. 27 500MB 
Dec. 27 Surface Forecast 
Dec. 28 Surface Forecast 
Dec. 29 Surface Forecast 
Dec. 30 Surface Forecast 
Dec. 31 500MB 
Dec. 31 Surface Forecast
For our area, we will continue to have a mix of conditions that will do nothing but reinforce our designation as the gloomiest area in the US. We will have some wind in some areas tonight and into tomorrow however that will decrease as this next front gets stalled by the coastal buffer zone, weakening it and breaking it apart before the next series of fronts arrive later in the weekend.
By tomorrow we’ll have another weak ridge of high-pressure building east of the Cascades which will give us some offshore flow over the Salish Sea. Then, as the next front approaches on Sunday morning, this offshore flow will become a pre-frontal SE with stronger breeze in Admiralty Inlet. The breeze will then become light and remain light over the rest of the area for the later part of Sunday.
The 48-hour surface forecast chart for the 29th of Dec shows the strongest low-pressure system of the year(951MB) in mid-Pacific with a very impressive attached frontal system that will eventually impact Southern California yet again as the jet stream will drag it that direction. The other interesting feature of note is just how far south the ice-accretion line will come as to almost 50°N. This will be good news for those of us watching the warm water blob off the West Coast continue to diminish.
As you compare the 28 October Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly chart with the 27 Dec SST Chart, cold water is definitely reappearing off of the West Coast however there is still a large area of above-normal water temperature in the Gulf of Alaska. As this next series of storms come out of Siberia this should help cool this area.
In the meanwhile, have a great New Year and get ready for the Big Seattle Boat Show. Other Events of note:
Jan 18th & 19th The Vic-Maui Offshore Weather and Routing Seminar at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club at Jericho Clubhouse, price includes lunch.
January 29th Full day Weather Seminar at the Boat Show University at the Big Seattle Boat Show.
January 30th, Big Seattle Boat Show 1700 hours, Stage #2 The North Hall, a free one-hour introduction to Marine Weather in the Pacific Northwest.
Have a good one!
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)