We are well ahead for rain this month with 7.5” in the gauge already which is just about the total for the entire month, and there’s more coming, just not this weekend.
As you can see from the Sat Pic, there is already clearing in the Straits and high pressure is starting to build over the entire Pacific Northwest. So while it should be a beautiful weekend, there won’t be much wind over the inland waters. The Gig Harbor LeMans racers had better be finished by 1300 hours since the wind is going to go from light to mostly non-existent. There will also be patches of light and variable over most of the Salish Sea.
November 19 500MB 
November 19 Surface Analysis 
November 20 Surface Forecast 
November 21 500MB 
November 21 Surface Forecast 
November 22 Surface Forecast 
November 23 500 MB 
23 November Surface Forecast
Looking at the surface charts you will see a fairly large high-pressure system (1031MB) off the central Oregon coast today and then a lobe of that system will develop over the Pacific Northwest tomorrow resulting in no pressure gradient and therefore little to no wind.
The 24-hour surface forecast chart shows the high strengthening to 1033MB and this will help to send the next system to the north of us. The interesting feature on this chart is the surface low south of Kodiak (981MB) which will deepen to 978 MB as it crosses the Gulf of Alaska and approaches the northern part of the SE Alaskan coast. Not only is there a fair amount of wind with this system (45-55 knots) note the heavy fog! How much fun can you have in high winds, big seas, and thick fog, I don’t care how big the ship is that you’re on.
Then we go out to the 48-hr surface forecast chart which is even more interesting as it shows a developing low-pressure system (976MB) expected to deepen to 952MB over the next 24 hours, a real-world example of bombogenesis! This chart also shows a developing low-pressure system (1007MB) off our coast which will bring a series of cold fronts into the West Coast early next week. More rain and mountain snow for the Cascades and Sierra Nevadas as far south as LA. The jet stream will come ashore north of us by Sunday but then drop to the south of San Francisco by the 23rd of Nov. This will also bring cooler temps into the Pacific NW.
Enjoy the weekend, and have a great Thanksgiving.
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)