Yesterday, in just one day we doubled our rainfall for the month. This helps, but we remain about 2” behind for the month and 3” behind for the year with no relief in sight. We also got a light dusting of snow above 3,000 ft but the freezing level will rise to around 5,000ft over the weekend and will start to affect our snowpack. It is not too soon to start preparing for what could be a very hot and very dry summer.
Today’s surface analysis chart and sat pic show a pair of weak low-pressure systems straddling the Pacific NW with another low-pressure system and attached frontal system in the Gulf of Alaska that will slowly drift our way this coming week. For tomorrow another cold front will move through the area and bring some breeze to some areas in the Salish Sea. This is a complex scenario and the models are not in agreement especially since the cold front tomorrow will move into the area from the NE. That simply doesn’t happen very often.
For tomorrow the most consistent breeze will probably be in the Central and North Sound and Admiralty Inlet. Especially from Pt No Pt to Pt Townsend from 1300-2000hrs there could be a SSW breeze of 10-25 knots.
Then there are the tides in Admiralty Inlet. Note especially the minus 1.5’ tide in Port Townsend tomorrow at 1300hrs going to a high of 8.5’ at 2100hrs.
The best thing to do will be to start logging wind speed and direction as well as surface barometric pressures today so you can track the changes as they occur and try to establish a trend. Have fun!
So stay safe, try to stay dry and 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)