• Sailing is all about the Weather.

    Big into the exploration of Atlantic Hurricanes since Katrina came uninvited into his world, James (Jim) Gurley (JamesG161) has followed every Tropical Storm birthed in Atlantic, Gulf and Caribbean waters since. Being a boater, he knows that we often need more time to prepare than we get from the TV weather folk. Jim relies on the science of storm development to share early warning info with friends and fellow boaters.

    Early in 2018, Jim and John Shepard, (JSSailem) started to chat about the weather data available. John asked Jim to help forecast Pacific NW storms, and this morphed into discussions on weather forecasting.

    For John, sailing in the PNW is sometimes hit and miss. One day is ugly, then a string of beautiful days but no wind, followed by a series of blue-sky days and 12 knot breezes. Being ready for those great sailing days means you need to look to the Pacific Ocean and what is brewing. John has been into Pacific NW Weather since the 1970’s when his first PNW November storm hit bringing more than 40 days and 40 nights of continual rain.

    Together we want to share information, new APPs, safety, and thoughts about letting the weather help you. Identify some of the resources for sailors and help prepare you for your next sailboat outing.

    It is far better to go out on the water knowing what to expect in weather terms, than to be out on the water and see dark ominous clouds suddenly appear, unprepared.

The Pacific Northwest HIGHs Win

Feb 14, 2014
7,400
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
The Pacific HIGH continues to spin off Protective HIGHs and the Jet Steam Dips south...
The Results...
1) Record High Temperature in Atlanta and other spots
2) Blizzard of wet snow in Montana.

It looks like these HIGHs will continue to Protect the Eastern USA well into Mid October.

They will prevent a Caribbean based storm from surprising us for now.

Tip: Over water Highs spin clockwise, Hurricanes spin counter clockwise.

Jim...
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Damit James has been urging me to observe the October sailing opportunities for PacificNW sailors.

It is always a SWAG when one is trying to predict the PacificNW weather. With that in mind I’ll share some observations made today.

First the waters of the North Pacific are showing colder over the past 7 days then normal. We have a significant Typhoon working its way toward Japan that looks like it might be more of a fish storm than a country buster. The cooler ocean will help to mitigate storm intensity.

That just sets it up for the next week. The Low from this storm and the lows coming out of the arctic appear to be lining up to sweep across the North Pacific and smack into BC to Northern Cal for a Mid October wake up it is Winter coming time.

This means a Cold Wet and Windy 15-18 October period. Large wind fields heading to the coastal waters. 30knot plus winds out of the west forecast for the Juan D’Fuca, West Vancouver Isle down through Oregon the 16-17th.

Once the initial lows get onshore we could see a potential for a pleasant Indian Summer period in store for the end of October. Warm days. Cold nights. Sailing winds.

I will be watching these developments as who would not want to get a last week of sailing in before the rains of November arrive.

Stay tuned.
 

Ward H

.
Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
As some of you know the Jersey coast and I hear further north is got some high winds today and coastal flooding combined from the full moon and NE winds from the storms off the coast. (Haven't watched the news for a couple of days but getting text alerts from Ocean County, Long Beach Island and Barnegat PD about flooding on LBI and roads leading to our marina in Barnegat)
Hoping to get into the marina before high tide tomorrow AM.
The coastal flooding in Annapolis made getting to the of the tents at the sailboat show a bit difficult this afternoon. A few of the booths were in several inches of water. Some of the venders adapted by putting a tables and chairs in the water and sitting where visitors could reach them.

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