Plenty of sailing going on this weekend and the weather will co-operate, certainly on Saturday. The surface analysis chart and the sat pic show the reasons for our late start of sun today. Today started cloudy with some light mist and tomorrow will start the same way. Onshore flow will increase today bringing strong flow down the Strait of JdF and strong NW flow in the Strait of Georgia. Look for Small Craft Advisories and potentially gale warnings. This will continue through the weekend with the gradient easing on Sunday.
Sunday will see an easing of the pressure gradient over the entire area with lighter NW breeze coming to the coast and the Strait of JdF. For the Central and South Sound conditions will remain light and variable for the most of the day until a weak northerly fills down the Sound in the early evening.
The other charts of interest are the 500mb or upper level charts which show the jet stream starting to make its way south. This will allow more storms out of the Gulf of Alaska to make their way into the Salish Sea. Something to watch.
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)