This is the perfect weekend for the Safety at Sea program on Bainbridge Island. If you haven’t signed up, it’s too late as this great program is completely sold out! A huge well-done to Margaret Pommert for putting this all together.
As you can see from today’s chart, we have a couple of weak low-pressure systems off the coast with an attached cold front that will move through the area late this afternoon and into the evening. It’s moving very quickly so the high wind speeds (25-30 knots) over the central Sound will not last long. After frontal passage, a strong onshore flow will come down the Straits and gradually work its way down the Sound late Saturday. The onshore gradient will ease late Saturday and into Sunday. Today’s prints from Langley Hill Doppler and the Goes Sat Pic clearly show this front.
February 28 500MB 
February 28 Surface Analysis 
March 1 500MB 
March 1 Surface Forecast 
March 2 Surface Forecast 
March 3 Surface Forecast
The other interesting transition to watch will be the development of a fairly strong (1043mb) high-pressure system off the California coast. It’s interesting in that as this high builds it will have the effect of modifying the upper airflow from zonal to meridional. Note that on today’s upper air chart there is no high showing below the jet stream and yet by Sunday it is quite pronounced. This will allow another series of fronts to come into the area by late Monday and into Tuesday with more arriving by week’s end. This is all good as we still need snow in the mountains to build the snowpack.
Next week is the start of CYC’s Center Sound Series so we’ll have a more detailed forecast for the race. In the meanwhile, Saturday might be a good time to do a bit of heavy weather sailing just to clean out the cobwebs, remember how to reef, and check the leads for the #3 and #4. Just make sure everyone has all their safety gear, jacklines are run and remember what the definition of heavy weather sailing is: It’s the point at which you no longer feel comfortable with your boat or your crew being able to handle conditions. In that case, have a crew meeting and go over all the safety gear and safety procedures at the dock.
Have a great weekend!
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)