If you’re going to be out on the water, Saturday is your day! It will be beautiful, temps in the 70’s however wind will be light except in the central Straits where we’ll still have onshore flow giving us westerly winds of 15-25 knots. This will all change overnight Saturday as a series of fronts move through the Salish Sea Sunday and Monday.
Today’s surface chart and sat pic shows the approaching front and the weak high pressure system over the Pacific Northwest. Tomorrow’s surface forecast chart shows quite a gap in the isobars hence the light air and warmer temps.
September 24 500 MB 
September 24 Surface Analysis 
September 25 Surface Forecast 
September 25 500 MB 
September 26 Surface Forecast 
September 27 Surface Forecast 
September 28 500 MB 
September 28 Surface Forecast
The Sunday surface forecast chart (48Hr) shows a number of interesting features including Super Typhoon Mindulle just showing in the Western Pacific. We will want to watch this one as it is forecast to increase in intensity. The other features to note are the dual fronts headed our way with a third one located near the 180W which will influence our weather by next Wednesday. Combine these features with the upper level (500MB) charts and you’ll notice that the jet stream will continue its primarily zonal flow while tending to drift to the south. This will lower the temps and increase the number of storms coming into the Pac NW. As I said, welcome to fall.
Sunday will also see a strong prefrontal SE breeze develop along the coast as well as in the central Sound, Admiralty Inlet and the Eastern Straits (15-25 knots). The breeze will ease in the central Sound by mid-day and conditions will remain light until early Sunday evening, while remaining breezy in Admiralty Inlet and the Eastern Straits.
Enjoy today and tomorrow but prepare for very fall like conditions starting this Sunday and continuing well into next week.
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)