Yet another very interesting day for weather in the Pacific NW. It started with a tornado warning for the Central Coast this morning and then moments ago a special weather warning issued for a waterspout about 10-15 miles off the coast from Westport to Destruction Island. The combination of surface analysis, satellite pics, and Langley Hill Doppler radar all provide vivid confirmation of what’s happening out there.
The surface analysis chart shows a weakening low-pressure system and associated trough approaching the coast with a nice pressure gradient driving a southerly flow up the Sound. The breeze is still pre-frontal with a SE of 33 knots at Destruction Island. After this system moves to the east, a strong onshore flow will develop after midnight tonight and continue through Saturday. The offshore wind will change very quickly to a strong NW flow along the coast. While the wind in the Straits will remain at 15-30 knots from the west all day on Saturday, it will be light in the Central and South Sound until mid to late afternoon on Saturday when finally, the onshore flow will shift from NW to WNW and make it through the Chehalis Gap and into the South Sound.
March 19 500 MB
March 19 Surface Analysis
March 20 Surface Forecast
March 21 500 MB
March 21 Surface Forecast
March 22 Surface Forecast
March 23 500 MB
March 23 Surface Forecast
It should also be noted that the NDBC sites are back up but not completely, data can be late or there can be gaps in the data. So, if you’re looking at the graphs of surface pressure and windspeed you’ll find some interesting plots.
While we have a nice breeze up and down the Sound today, when you look at the surface forecast chart for 20 March you’ll notice that the pressure gradient will ease considerably and this is what will bring lighter conditions for the Islands Race. The race will start with a light southerly up Colvos which will ease as the wind shifts from southerly to southwesterly. As the westerly in the Straits works its way down the Sound a convergence zone will develop from central Colvos north to Admiralty Inlet. This will dissipate by mid-afternoon as a westerly flow comes around the bottom of the Olympics.
Langley Hill Doppler 3/19
NWS Forecast Office
Satellite pic 3/19
After you round the top mark of the course there may be some residual southerly however once you get south of Blake Island you’ll want to favor the west side of Colvos in anticipation of puffs from the west and to stay out of the tide. Just don’t get too close to the beach on the west side as it will be light in there. As you get south in Colvos and the breeze becomes more westerly have the barber-hauler rigged and get ready for some aggressive trimming to take advantage of the close reaching conditions.
Another front will come through the area on Sunday and as you can see from the upper air charts, the jet stream will continue to bring wet and mild conditions into the Pacific NW. At least the jet steam is finally starting to move north so spring is on its way!
Plenty of wind last weekend, not so much this weekend. That, however, is racing in Puget Sound. Today’s surface analysis chart shows a weak ridge of high pressure over the Salish Sea extending southwesterly from southern BC out to a high-pressure system (1030MB) off of San Francisco. By tomorrow this will have been pushed slightly to the east as the next system approaches the coast. The gradient will somewhat tighten as the next front gets closer.
The satellite picture shows the sunny conditions we have now as well as the next cloud cover coming onshore. While we may have calm conditions on the Sound now, this will give way to a more southerly flow over the racecourse tomorrow, just not a strong flow. The other point of interest is that the NDBC primary processing servers were shut off on 9 March are not yet back up with no ETR as of this afternoon. This means we probably won’t have our graph of conditions (baro, gust, wind speed) at West Point or any other NDBC sites. This will make the Western Washington current conditions chart even more important. https://atmos.washington.edu/cgi-bin/latest.cgi?sfcplots-wwa
March 12 current conditions
March 12 Surface Analysis
March 13 Surface Forecast
March 14 500 MB
March 14 Surface Forecast
March 15 Surface Forecast
March 16 500 MB
March 16 Surface Forecast
Tidal currents are always important on this race and you’ll want to look at two different stations. West Point for the start-finish line and Foulweather Bluff for an estimate of conditions at Scatchet Head. The actual speed at Scatchet Head will be about .5 to .75 of the values at FWB.
West Point
0800 Slack
1412 Max Flood .72 knots
1636 Slack
1806 Max Ebb .42 knots
Foulweather Bluff
0906 Max Ebb 1.93 knots
1200 Slack
1436 Max Flood 1.75 knots
1730 Slack
Generally speaking, winds will be in the 5-12 knot range with lighter winds on the southern part of the course. At the start, depending on where the start line is set, the wind will probably be from SSE so a starboard tack start should work you just don’t want to hold starboard very long because there will tend to be more wind to the west. As you sail north, it will tend to build on the west side of the Sound first, just watch the TWD and TWS, and don’t get too far to the west of the rhumbline. Since it will be light, you’ll need to keep your head out of the boat and watch what’s going on around you. The other thing to remember is that the flood tide starts first on the west side of the Sound. So after you round the mark you’ll probably want to hold port tack, head to the west, and beat down that shore watching COG and SOG until Jeff Head before heading to the finish. As you get south the breeze will tend to lighten from Kingston south.
As of this afternoon, it looks like the TP-52’s will be around the course in about 5.2 to 5.5 hours, the J-111’s abound in 6 hours, the J-35’s, J-109’s around in 7.5 hours and the J-105’s around in about 7.8 to 8 hours. It will probably be tough for the slower boats to finish within the time limit. While it will be a long day on the water, at least it will be relatively warm.
Corinthian Yacht Club’s Blakely Rock Race, the first race in the Center Sound Series, is certainly not the first race of the year. However, it always seems to force racers, and race committees, to officially shake out the cobwebs for the coming year. Saturday’s race was no exception.
The day started out breezier than expected, in the high teens and low 20s. It was certainly a wakeup call, and left a few skippers more comfortable knowing they’d gone over the rig prior to leaving the dock. A fleet of nearly 70 boats had signed up, and most were on hand at the designated start time of 10 am. Alas, the race committee was not. The venerable, much loved and sometimes repaired, red YC 5 had serious steering issues.
Here’s what I gleaned from CYC Fleet Race Captain Matt Wood’s comments on a Facebook thread:
“The hydraulic steering connector on YC5 sheered in half as the boat was leaving its temporary slip on K dock. We had our Whalers tow us to the dinghy dock to affect repairs. Many thanks to the team that came to our aid. After pulling the engine framing apart we recognized that we could not safely conduct a race on YC5. We continuously communicated on VHF 69 the status of the RC, flew AP and sounds as per RRS, and advised the fleet on VHF our intentions. Plan B was developed and implemented by using the Bullfrog, and our Whaler, to set up a start line using Meadow Point Buoy and a start pin. Starts were combined to facilitate speedy starts.
“First start was at 11.20 AM, 1 hour and 20 minutes after scheduled start time. Race course was amended, as per SI and RRS, to Blakely Rock and return, using S line as F Iine, as per SI and RRS.
“We have a plan to affect repairs with the intent to have YC5 in service for next Saturday. Failing that, there are alternative RC boat plans already in place.”
The following photos are just a sample of some great shots by Jan Anderson. See the rest here.
Cherokee waiting for the start
One Life crossing astern of Straight, no chaser
Where’s the rail meat? Draining out the side.
Hooligan heading for shore
Rounding the Rock
Different Drummer
Daffodils for Kelly. Lest we never forget.
Glory on her way to another win
The amended course was shortened to Blakely Rock and return, which was just about enough distance for the TP 52s to stretch their legs in the big breeze. Planing boats ruled on the return from the Rock, The J/105s clearly enjoyed the big breeze, taking six of the top eight places with Creative winning fleet honors. Hooligan, a new J/111, was second overall and the J/125 Hamichi strutted her well-known downwind stuff to third overall. There is also a shorthanded class – though the boats are scored against their regular class and also against the other shorthanded boats. Jonathan McKee’s Dark Star won the shorthanded class while also placing third in Class 8. Results here.
Screenshot from the Kwindoo app.
Fittingly in the Age of Apps, Kwindoo is being used, and it gives an interesting and instructive replay of the race of those who’ve implemented it on their smart phone. On this day, like so many others app or no app, it paid to play West Point, take that port tack all the way across to the Bainbridge side and work your way to the Rocks. To access this replay, go to kwindoo.com, register and search for Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle.
With the Center Sound Series well and truly under way, the cobwebs cleared out, it seems already like this will be a season to remember.
Ed. Note – Bruce is going to give a chalk talk on the weather outlook for tomorrow’s Blakely Rock Race for CYC Seattle. See below for details.
As we said in November, it was going to be a wetter and cooler than normal winter and it has pretty much worked out that way. As of today, we are almost four inches of rainfall above average and even though last year was way above normal we are still .06 inches ahead of where we were a year ago. I bring this up because while we may have had some beautiful days this last week with above normal temps which got a lot of plants and trees starting to bloom, don’t expect more of the same this coming week.
March 5 500 MB
March 5
March 6 Surface Forecast
March 7 500 MB
March 7 Surface Forecast
March 8 Surface Forecast
March 9 500 MB
March 9 Surface Forecast
Today’s satellite pic certainly tells the story and when you combine this with the Surface Analysis chart and 500Mb chart you can see why we are going to have a very interesting weekend. The satellite pic shows the low-pressure system with the attached cold front off of our coast as well as the next frontal system. It’s the area behind the cold front (the comma-shaped solid white clouds) with all those irregularly shaped, puffy white clouds that will make tomorrow interesting for Blakely Rock racers. This marks an area of cooler, unstable air which will keep the post-frontal conditions unsettled. Think of it as pulses of breeze that will be coming through the Chehalis Gap and up the Sound. In the morning, since the breeze offshore will be very southerly this will keep the breeze in the Central Sound southerly. As the breeze offshore becomes more southwesterly, this will bring more of a southwesterly component to the breeze in the Central Sound. While this may seem straightforward, the problem will be that there can be areas of lighter air as these pulses of breeze move up the Sound.
As we get towards the late afternoon/early evening tomorrow, the breeze offshore will become more of a pre-frontal southeasterly in anticipation of the arrival of the next front (visible in the sat pic). This will have the effect of easing the breeze in the Central Sound until early Sunday. It will be the coast that will experience the higher winds and seas. This is where it also becomes useful to compare the surface analysis chart to the 500Mb chart. The surface chart shows three low-pressure systems moving in an almost circular pattern in the Gulf of Alaska down to our coast. The 500MB chart shows two upper-level lows off of BC with the jet stream coming ashore just north of San Francisco. Over the next four days, these two upper-level lows will consolidate into one and not move however this will have the effect of driving the jet stream further south which will keep us in a wet and cool pattern for the week.
As far as Blakely Rock goes, this should be a great race. Challenging but fairly consistent wind conditions and not much tide, however, as always, the geography of the Sound will have a profound effect on the breeze since we have to sail back and forth across the Sound.
Tidal Current at West Point
0948 Slack
1136 Max Ebb .3 knots
1324 Slack
2000 Max Flood .79 knots
The keys for the Race will be to get a clean start and sail into breakwater or Magnolia Bluff avoiding the outfall from the Ship Canal. Current radar has bands of rain moving across the area which will have the effect of slightly increasing the velocity of the outfall as well as increasing the ebb in the area of West Point because of the outfall from the Duwamish. The combination of rain plus a steady southerly will extend the ebb by about 20-30 minutes at West Point. There will be a slight SE shift from Shilshole to West Point inside of a line from Meadow Point to the Lighthouse. Just be careful not to get in too close to the beach as there may be a significant drop in windspeed. You will probably get to West Point on port tack and you’ll just want to hold port and sail across the Sound. As you cross, you’ll be slowly knocked. Watch your windspeed as you get closer to Bainbridge and while you may get a significant knock you may also lose wind speed. You’ll want to work up to Blakely Rock favoring long starboard tacks and short port tacks. As always, be careful working south along Wing Point, it sticks out further than you may think. Plan your approach to Blakely Rock as it may be difficult to keep your air clear as the fleet will tend to compress at the rock. Watch the boats ahead to see what kind of sets they are doing.
It usually pays to do a port pole set at the mark as the breeze should be from the SW. This will hold until you are near Tyee Shoal where you maybe lifted so gybe out and sail your angles as you run north. Generally speaking, you will want to stay near the rhumbline or slightly to the west of rhumb and, of course, keep your air clear and anticipate overtaking situations. Give the slower boats a break and pass well to windward or way to leeward.
As you pass West Point, start planning your rounding at the top mark, which will hopefully be in the correct location. As you pass the start/finish line, check to see if one end is favored. You’d like to be the inside boat at the mark however that may mean a port gybe approach as the wind will probably be around to the SSW by then.
Once you round the top mark, it will be a long starboard tack back to the finish. Again keeping your air clear but working to the east. You’ll also want to watch the boats behind you in case a big shift comes in from the west. If the boats astern are being significantly lifted out over you, bite the bullet and tack back out to the west to get into the new wind. Just don’t go so far that you overstand the finish.
If the boats astern aren’t lifted, check the boats ahead to see if there’s a SE shift on the beach going up to Meadow Point, then plan your approach to the finish.
Today’s models have the TP 52’s around the course in just about four hours. The J-35’s are around in about 5.5 hours.
Tonight CYC Shilshole is hosting a chalk talk where I’ll discuss the race as well as what the models from late this afternoon are showing. ( Ed. Note, sign up here!)
All of you folks getting ready for TransPac should look at today’s surface analysis chart. A 1047MB Pacific High centered just slightly to the north and to the west of where we might find it this summer. Nice and round, so some degree of stability. What a great race it would be if the race were to start today and the pattern would hold for about 10 days.
February 26 500 MB
February 26 Surface Analysis
February 27 Surface Forecast
February 28 500 MB
February 28 Surface Forecast
March 2 500 MB
March 1 Surface Forecast
March 2 Surface Forecast
This configuration also explains we have such a strong onshore flow coming down the Straits today. Currently 40-knots at the Race, and 30 at Smith Island. Don’t worry, by tomorrow it will all change as the high will weaken and drift to the south and slightly to the west. This will allow the gradient to ease over the PacNW bringing light air to the South Sound, just in time for racing tomorrow. By late tomorrow, in advance of another front, a weak southerly flow will develop and then build into Sunday with the possibility of small craft advisories in the central and north Sound, Admiralty Inlet, eastern Strait of JdF, and the San Juan Islands by mid-day Sunday and holding into the evening.
This will mark the start of a series of weak systems making their way into the Salish Sea. Don’t complain, just look at the 28 Feb Surface Forecast Chart and checkout that 962Mb low-pressure system in the western Pacific heading into the Bering Sea. Winter is not giving up quite yet.
It is also worthwhile to check the 500MB charts as they undergo an interesting progression over the next 4 days. The 96hr Chart is particularly interesting as a 538Mb upper-level low forms off of Southern California and directs the jet stream into San Diego. This will allow almost a straight zonal flow right into the Pacific NW. We are already ahead in the rainfall category for this month and this year and while last year was wet, this year is even wetter. It’s time to start checking for moss between your toes.
Remember, next week is the CYC Blakely Rock Race and we’ll have an expanded Bruce’s Briefs on Friday. This will be followed by a Zoom Meeting with the latest wx data at 1800hrs Friday night put on by Corinthian Yacht Club. You can register for this at www.cycseattle.org
While it currently says 6:00am, trust me, it is at 1800hrs.
Stay safe, stay healthy, and have a great weekend!
It seems sailors are really ready to shake off the Covid blues and go racing. Port Madison YC’s Jim Depue Memorial race, which took the fleet across Puget Sound twice last Saturday, was a chance for Central Sound sailors to shake out the cobwebs that may have collected over winter. We are lucky enough to have a recap from winner Alex Simanis of Ballard sails (and his winning track), who sailed the Henderson 30 Sabrosa. And be sure to scroll down for Jan Anderson’s photos. Results here. And don’t forget to support Jan’s photography with the purchase of some of her shots! Here’s the link to her Jim Depue gallery. –KH
Alex’s Race
The Jim Depue race was a good one for sure!
The startline was set in a pretty big hole behind Pt Monroe, RC did a great job of AP and moving the line out to the breeze. A nice SE breeze filled in and maxed out about 15 knots true. For us on the Henderson 30 Sabrosa, we started near the committee boat and favored the Bainbridge side of the course for the 1st beat. There was a big 8 or 9-foot ebb that was running hard, and it really paid to try to stay out of it on the beat up to Eagle Harbor. Starboard tack had a very headed slant, and combined with the keel across the current, it made us eager to be on Port as much as possible. Two-thirds of the way up the beat we found 15 knots of true wind, and had to change down in jibs, at this point we were leading the fleet boat for boat. When we got the #2 Jib T-ed up to tack change, the soft shackle flogged off in the tack and we flailed around for a bit trying to deal with the big genoa halfway down, and the new genoa up but flogging. We lost some time here, and by then Peter Shorett, who was sailing his beautiful Farr 395 Ace got by us. Peter was sailing single handed with flying sails. He sailed a killer race.
Once getting around the red nun at Eagle Harbor, it was a pretty straightforward drag race down to the Magnolia shore to the magic carpet ride down the beach in the Duwamish flush. The next leg down to Indianola, saw the breeze go fairly hard east. Some boats got caught too far towards Shilshole, and it was a painful port gybe in the east breeze coming back towards Indianola. We were lucky to be west when the shift happened, so we pretty much got headed to the mark, once around the PMYC mark just east of Indianola pier, we had a jib fetch to the finish with slightly cracked sheets to Point Monroe in the end of the easterly.
Unfortunately, many boats saw wind from multiple directions after we finished, and it really spread out the corrected times. Overall, it was a beautiful dry day on the water, and as usual PMYC put on another fun and interesting event!
Note: Sabrosa is owned by Pete Sauer out in Montana. Since we sold Poke and Destroy and our new boat is in Port Townsend getting a bunch of work done, Pete has been gracious enough to lend us the boat to sail until it sells!
Photos by Jan Anderson
The fleet.
Sabrosa
Time Warp. Again.
The Boss
Elixir
Dakota on tactics so Ben can concentrate on steering.
Today’s satellite picture provides a great visual when compared to the surface analysis chart. We had a front move through last night and now we have an onshore flow which will continue through Saturday. The next front and low-pressure system are clearly visible and this will arrive Sunday with yet another system arriving with more wind and rain on Monday. It must be February in the Pacific NW.
For boaters, it will mean a mixed batch of conditions for the weekend, and of course, it will depend on where you’re boating so be sure to check conditions and track the barometric pressure.
February 19 500MB
February 19 Surface Analysis
February 20 Surface Forecast
February 21 500 MB
February 21 Surface Forecast
February 22 Surface Forecast
February 23 500 MB
February 23 Surface Forecast
If you’re racing out of Anacortes and heading to Friday Harbor the onshore flow down the Straits will mean a nice SW breeze of 10-15 knots for most of the day.
For the Jim Depue Race, you’ll have a nice southerly of 8-15 knots until about 1300 to 1500 hrs when the breeze will ease until a stronger(15-20knt) SW fills in the late afternoon. Be prepared for anything.
After midnight Saturday night, a stronger southerly will fill into central Sound, Admiralty Inlet, and the San Juan Islands By mid-day Sunday a strong onshore flow will come down the Straits with the onshore flow coming around the southern side of the Olympics meeting in Admiralty Inlet.
The great news this week is that CYC is going to have a Center Sound Series starting March 6th with the Blakely Rock Race. Now if only the marks will stay anchored.
It certainly wouldn’t have been the first time this race was sailed in the snow however this is the right call. Not because of snow but because this would have been the classic Toliva Shoal sucker punch; nice NE breeze (10-15 knots) for the start however by noon to 1300 hrs it would steadily drop to zero gusting to ½. As usual, another great call by the Race Committee.
February 12 Satellite image
Today’s surface analysis chart shows the reasons why all this is happening. The first feature of note is the two high-pressure systems to the NE of us in BC. Especially the one whose central pressure is 1045MB and when we have 1017Mb here that’s a 25Mb difference so it’s no wonder we have areas of strong E-ENE breeze. Especially near the outflow from the Fraser River Vally and the gaps in the Cascades. For instance, 36 knots of E in Greenwater.
February 12 500 MB
February 12 Surface Analysis
February 13 Surface Forecast
February 14 500 MB
February 14 Surface Forecast
February 15 Surface Forecast
February 16 Surface Forecast
February 16 500 MB
The offshore picture is also very interesting with a weak low-pressure system (990MB) off the north end of Vancouver Island with an attached frontal system. Of particular note is the point at which the cold front turns into a stationary occluded front at about 35N 150W. This is where a new low is forming and you’ll notice the start of a very long red arrow. That red arrow is pointed right at us here on the Salish Sea and its length indicates that this low will travel about 1680 miles in 24 hours, which means it’s moving at 70 knots, WOW! This fast-moving system with its attached frontal system will come ashore Saturday morning.
February 12 Langley Doppler
As always, it’s interesting to look at the extended surface forecast charts especially the 96HR one from today. Note the 952MB low in the far western Pacific, which is one very intense low-pressure system and it will be one to watch as it works its way towards North America. You now have to check out the 500MB charts to see how these systems will keep coming at us., which they will.
The good news is that with the way the polar vortex is oscillating, this should be the last major intrusion of cold polar air this season. I’m sure the central US and East Coast are hoping for this. Below freezing and closer to 0°F to the Texas Gulf Coast? There are going to be some very busy plumbers dealing with frozen pipes and more icy roadways. YUK.
Have a great weekend.
Ed. Note: Happy Valentine’s Day! For sailors, long underwear can be just as romantic as flowers. I say bravely.
Sailors will find this weekend to be very interesting with plenty of wind in the central and eastern Strait of JdF (not unusual) and for once, more wind in the San Juan’s and the south Sound than in the central Sound. In other words, it’s the perfect weekend for the Shaw Island Winter Classic, the Harbor Series in Tacoma, and the Henderson Inlet Race. All three events appear to have a nice number of boats registered. So get out there and enjoy the breeze.
Today’s surface analysis chart shows the front that went through last night and early this morning, now on the other side of the Cascades. We also have a fairly strong area of high pressure(1037MB) off the coast with a weak area of low-pressure (1020MB) in the Gulf of Alaska that is moving rapidly towards the Queen Charlotte Straits and with its attached frontal system, will bring rain to our area this weekend. This set-up will bring strong onshore breeze to Straits and the South Sound with the central Sound, being in the lee of the Olympics, remaining light.
February 5 500 mb
February 5 Surface Analysis
February 6 Surface Forecast
February 7 500 mb
February 7 Surface Forecast
February 9 500 mb
February 9 Surface Forecast
As we go through the weekend the high will remain in place offshore with this quick-hitting low dissipating as it moves over land tomorrow. This will further reinforce the strong onshore flow with the potential for gale warnings in the central and eastern Strait of JdF. The other feature to be aware of is that 1042MB high in central BC. As that slides slowly to the south and east early next week, this could bring the coldest temperatures we’ve had this winter to the Salish Sea.
For the Shaw Island Winter Classic, while it will be cranking in the Straits, with Shaw being in the lee of San Juan Island, racers will see about 5-15 from the wsw with the possibility higher gusts as you sail up the west side of Shaw Island. Should be plenty of breeze to get around the course.
Tacoma may start off with 15-20 knots of sw breeze with the potential for gusts to 25+. Olympia will be slightly lighter but again with plenty of breeze to get around the course.
The breeze in the Straits will hold until late Sunday afternoon when the ridge of high pressure will begin to ease. This will mark the start of offshore flow and the arrival of cooler temps to our area. The high pressure will remain in place and keep storms away from our area for most of next week.
Enjoy the weekend, stay safe and stay healthy!
Ed. Note: National Weatherpersons Day? It’s a thing. February 5th is National Weatherperson’s Day. From NOAA:
February 5th is National Weatherperson’s Day. The day commemorates the birth of John Jeffries in 1744. Jeffries, one of Americas first weather observers, began taking daily weather observations in Boston in 1774 and he took the first balloon observation in 1784.
OK, Bruce, Happy Weatherperson’s Day.I’ll gift you some chilly weather and above average rainfall…..
It’s going to be a perfect weekend to go to the Seattle Boat Show without ever leaving the house!
Right now things are fairly calm however as you can see from the surface charts, satelite pics, and the Doppler Radar we have a strong frontal system approaching the coast which should arrive late tonight or early Saturday morning. This will bring fairly strong SSE winds to the north end of Admiralty Inlet, the eastern part of the Straits of JdF, and the San Juan Islands. This breeze will begin to ease by about mid-morning however showers will continue through the weekend. This will be just a practice run as another front will arrive late Saturday or early Sunday.
February 1 Surface Forecast
February 2 500 mb
February 2 Surface Forecast
January 29 500 mb
January 29 Surface Forecast
January 30 Surface Forecast
January 31 500 mb
January 31 Surface Forecast
You should also take a look at the 31 Jan surface forecast chart and note that in the western Pacific the ice accretion line is almost as far south as 40° N. Combine this with the winds that are expected and you’ve got a pretty good reason to stay in port. The fact that this line is so far south is almost certainly the result of a very cold dome of high pressure that when it was over Mongolia in late December/early January set a new record for the highest pressure ever recorded. This occurred at Tsetsen-Uul, Mongolia where the mean sea-level pressure reached 1094.3mb. And we thought that when the high in western Canada got to 1049mb that that was high! The record for the contiguous-US is 1064mb which occurred in Miles City, Montana in December of 1983. If you include Alaska, the record is 1078.8mb which was set in Northway, Alaska in late January of 1989.
Water Vapor Image
Satellite
Doppler
Today’s 500mb chart shows the upper-level low-pressure system off of southern California that brought the rain and high winds into that area earlier this week with the jet stream coming ashore near the US-Mexican border which is way south of where it normally comes ashore somewhere between Oregon and Sitka. As you look at the 96hr 500mb forecast chart you’ll notice that it doesn’t move very much further north which will mean that California will get more rain and the Sierra Nevada’s will get a lot more snow. This will be a very interesting week of weather.
