Bruces Briefs: Wx for 15, 16, 17, & 18 January. Calm, Wind, Rain, Repeat!

Ed. Note: It’s Bruce’s birthday today! My heartfelt congratulations to the Ageless One and thanks for all he does for the community.

I could almost cut and paste the report from last week because it will be amazingly close for this weekend and into next week. We had plenty of wind earlier this week with Smith Island showing a little over an hour of winds 48-59-knots from the WNW, no wonder that truck blew over on the Deception Pass Bridge.
Today’s surface analysis chart and satellite pic show a very nice correlation with clearing over our area and the weak front that moved over the area earlier today. Tomorrow’s surface forecast chart has the inland high-pressure building (1034MB) with the offshore high stabilizing at 1028MB. These will eventually combine and give us protection from the next series of fronts that will drag over us. The 1034MB high-pressure system will also bring cooler temperatures to our area. Not freezing cold but cooler.

As the next front comes over the area on Saturday night, it will be another quick hitter weakened by our ridge of high pressure however the post-frontal winds will be 15-25 from the west on the Strait of JdF. Early Sunday morning this system will bring winds of 15-25 from the south to central Sound and Admiralty Inlet. By 0600 Sunday this will ease as the stronger westerlies come down the Straits. Other than the times above, the wind in the central and south Sound will remain light.

Next week will see that 1034MB high now to the east of us fill back to the Pacific and build to 1036MB keeping conditions calm and rain to a minimum.

Let’s hope these calm conditions extend over the rest of this country for the rest of next week.
Enjoy the weekend!

Bruce Hedrick

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)