What a difference a couple of weeks can make. Our snowpack for both the Cascades and Olympics is right around 90% of normal and we are .75 inches of rain ahead for the year. Now we’ll see if this moist pattern holds up through the rest of the winter. Right now it certainly looks like a very wet pattern for at least the next week. If I had to pick a day this weekend to go to the In-The-Water-Show it would be Saturday. Sunday is looking wet and breezy so the brokers will love that as only the serious buyers come out in that stuff! Remember to always check the Doppler Radar on the NWS Seattle website so you can see when the next rain will be getting to us.
Jan 24 500MB 
Jan 24 Surface Analysis 
Jan. 25 Surface Forecast 
Jan 26 500MB 
Jan 26 Surface Forecast 
Jan 28 Surface Forecast 
Jan 28 500MB
The surface charts tell the story with one low-pressure system after another headed directly into the Pacific NW. The 48hr surface forecast chart shows an impressive 11 low-pressure systems in the Roser North Pacific LPS index, a seasonal high in terms of total lows. More importantly, the 500mb charts show an almost straight zonal flow across the Pacific. This will mean that the systems are fast-moving and that is confirmed by the length of the red arrows coming off the center of the lows, many of those show the center of the low covering 600 miles in 24 hours. Impressive.
Enjoy the weekend. I’ll be working at the Seattle Boat Show Information Booth on the main floor at the Clink, today and tomorrow so if you’re down there, stop by and say hello. I will also be teaching the all-day weather class at the Boat Show University on Wednesday and a one-hour free weather seminar on Thursday.
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)