Bruce’s Brief January 18-21 Hurricane Force Winds at N. End of Vancouver Island

Plenty of breeze headed your way this afternoon, this evening and into Saturday morning especially if you live on the coast, Vancouver Island, eastern end of the Strait of JdF, and Haida Gwaii. The central Sound will get some wind like maybe 25 knots from the south-southeast early tomorrow morning before easing off. The Doppler Radar at Langley Hill on the coast is already picking up the start of this activity off the north coast of Oregon.

Environment Canada has already issued a Hurricane Force Wind Warning for the Northern part of Vancouver Island for winds of 70-75 knots near headlands. They are also forecasting waves of 30-40 feet, YIKES.

The Surface Analysis for today shows this low (988MB) with attached frontal system running into a weak ridge of high pressure that extends from southern Washington to about mid California. The Surface Forecast Chart for tomorrow morning shows that this low has now intensified to 973MB, is now quite round with a very tightly packed isobar structure and the warning box: Hurcn Force. This chart also shows that this rapidly moving front is now over the Cascades headed in a northeasterly direction and pushing that weak ridge of high-pressure off to the south. This will open the door for more storm activity this coming week.

The Surface Forecast Chart for 20 Jan shows a plethora (11 to be exact) of low-pressure systems strewn across the Pacific, including a 959MB whopper in the mid-Pacific which is moving our way directed by the jet stream, see the 500MB charts.

The 21 Jan chart does offer us some relief as the 959MB Low is now forecast to stall and weaken in the mid-Pacific as a ridge of high-pressure rebuilds along the coast giving us light air and some very nice mid-winter conditions.

By the 22nd of January the high off of San Francisco has now built to 1034MB and is now linked to a 1038MB high over northern Nevada. This will continue to help direct storm activity to the north of the Pacific Northwest however winter is a long way from over.

The Big Seattle Boat Show starts on the 25th of January. I’ll be working in the NMTA Information Booth Friday and Saturday both weekends so stop by and say hello if you’re at the show.

Bruce Hedrick

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)