Summer has definitely arrived and it is going to be another great weekend on the water. You have probably noticed the record high temperatures on the other side of the Cascades and this has created a thermal low-pressure system which by tomorrow will develop into a thermal low-pressure trough that will run from SE Alaska to the Sea of Cortez. Even though our Pacific High still has not set up in its “normal” position, there will still be an onshore flow down the Strait of JdF which will increase in the late afternoon and into the early evening both days of the weekend. Expect small craft advisories for the Central and Eastern parts of the Strait.
July 31 500 mb 
July 31 Surface Analysis 
August 1 Surface Forecast 
August 2 500 mb 
August 2 Surface Forecast 
August 4 500 mb 
August 4 Surface Forecast
For the rest of the Salish Sea, we can expect light air on Saturday and Sunday with some northerly filling down the Sound late on Sunday. Overall, temperatures will remain pleasant and as a weak frontal system drags over the area Sunday night and Monday we may even get some light rain late Monday morning and into Monday afternoon. Temps will remain very warm on the other side of the Cascades and this will drive up the fire danger. Since the 500mb charts are continuing to show zonal flow from west to east and no upper-level lows developing, this will keep the smoke from the fires moving in a generally eastern direction away from the Salish Sea.
Be safe, stay healthy, and enjoy the 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)