The past week has been a bit boring for West Coast meteorologists.
Reason? A persistent upper band of high pressure over the eastern Pacific, illustrated by this morning’s upper (500-hPa) chart (see below). Red and brown indicate areas of high pressure/high altitude. This pattern has been “locked”, something known as a “block pattern” in biz weather.
But the lock is about to be opened. Before I cover this, let me note that our snow cover is falling a little below normal (see current situation below). Not a serious omission and one that should be addressed in the next week or so.
The forecasts you are about to see are based on the truly excellent Europe Cener multi-forecast aggregator. The mean or average of multiple (51) runs is displayed.
By Friday morning, the protective ridge will move inland, and an energetic lower-pressure (green) trench will approach our shores (see below).
This upper trough will link to a nice low center, which will bring strong winds to the Oregon/Washington coast (see sea level pressure forecast for Friday morning below).
Latest Seattle WindWatch wind forecast for Seattle, including high resolution forecast and a collection of other forecasts showing a slight wind Friday afternoon, with gusts over 30 miles /hour. Not the end of the world. And yes, there will be rain with this system.
On Sunday morning, another low moved in… a trench that will affect the entire West Coast. Recharge for California.
And then fast forward to Monday, another bottom approaching, with a strong jet stream to follow.
Nothing particularly severe this week, but it would be nice to have rain and wind again. This is the Pacific Northwest!
