It is going to be another lovely weekend on the water even if the overnight hours will be a bit on the cool side. The surface analysis chart for today shows a thermal trough developing along the coast and a mish-mash of pressure systems. Overall, this will bring a northerly flow to the Salish Sea with light wind except in Admiralty Inlet and the Central Sound which may start with five knots of northerly but by noon should have 8-12 knots.
This really looks good for the Foulweather Bluff Race. It might be a light northerly for the start which again this year will be just north of Kingston. This is fortunate because it will take a while for the northerly to get across the Sound to Edmonds. However, as the fleet beats to the north, the breeze will slowly build to 8-12 knots.
The other good news is that tidal current won’t be a major factor this year.
Current at Foulweather Bluff Buoy:
0636 Max Flood 1.31 knts
1112 Slack
1230 Max Ebb .16 knts
1418 Slack
1818 Max Flood .55 knts
If the Long Course is selected, the J-105’s would be around in about 5.5 hours. Plenty of time to get back to the party at Kingston.
The other charts of interest are the Surface Forecast Charts for 48, 72, and 96 hours as well as the upper level (500mb)charts. As they show a persistent low-pressure system off the coast however since the jet stream is quite far north, there is nothing to push it in our direction. This is also the reason why we will have more of warmer than normal temps. Still no sign of any major precipitation over the next seven days.
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)