Bruce’s Briefs: Wx for 13, 14, 15, and 16 Aug. Northern Century 100

Yet another wacky week of weather with today and tomorrow looking the warmest and with the worst air quality. Check out today’s Sat Pic and just be glad we’re on this side of the mountains. Welcome to Climate Change!

We have a nice high-pressure heat dome over the Salish Sea with a trough of low pressure extending down the Cascades and into Central Oregon. This will bring southerly winds to the coast and the San Juan Islands with some stronger westerlies still coming down Straits. Offshore, our pacific high is still very weak at 1027Mb and will continue to be pushed around by this weak series of low-pressure systems coming across the Pacific.

The picture for Saturday doesn’t get any better as a weak high-pressure system will develop over eastern Oregon and Washington. This will keep a light southerly flow over the Salish Sea and the coastal waters. The 48hr Chart shows a weak cold front approaching the area and this may bring some scattered showers on Monday however more importantly it will blow the smoke out of our area.

For the Northern Century Race, this will mean another slow race with the wind probably never making it into double digits. The breeze will tend to be southerly with some puffs from the SW the closer you get to the Straits of JdF. Right now it looks like Rage will make it around in about 20 hours, the J-111 around in 22 hours, the J-35 around in 25 hours, and the CS-36 around in 26.5 hours. Overall, the trimmers and foredeck crews will be working pretty hard as the fleet drag races from hole to hole.

Stay safe, enjoy the weekend, and use lots of sunblock.

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)