Not much has changed since last week. We still have a weak Pacific High offshore (1022MB) and a lobe of that high centered over western Washington. We also still have a thermal trough over eastern Washington. This will keep temps cookin’ over eastern Washington and with that pressure gradient and temperature differential this will occasionally drive an onshore flow down the Strait of JdF, especially on Saturday and Sunday afternoon with the potential for gale warnings in the eastern Strait Sunday evening.
The rest of the Salish Sea will have generally light conditions with occasional spillover of NW breeze coming down the Sound from the Strait. With this configuration, there is still no rain on the horizon. That’s the bad news, the good news is that with this generally onshore flow, Mother Nature’s Air Conditioning will be working and that will keep our temps relatively mild, especially compared to the rest of the country.
The other charts to look at are the 500MB or upper-level charts and what’s interesting is that those two upper-level, cut-off low-pressure systems are still in place since there is no jet stream to move them. This pattern will hold well into next week and probably through next weekend.
For the Pacific Cup folks the early starters definitely had a couple of very slow days. The last starters, yesterday, are experiencing much better conditions and are rapidly closing in on the first starters. The fleet will still experience less wind than what we would consider “normal” for the next 2 days after which the Pacific High will finally start to set up properly giving the fleet a nice ride to Kaneohe Bay. The TP-52 Saga should make the crossing in about 8.25 days to be the first boat to finish.
Enjoy the weekend and as usual, wear sunblock, be careful with outdoor fires and keep checking the weather before you head out!
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)