2014-02 Weather Watching for San Francisco to Seattle

We're fueled up and waiting for a weather window.  We've been weather watching since February 10th.  The "window" will take the form of a high pressure zone in the Pacific Ocean west of San Francisco.  The high pressure will delay (hold off) the Pacific storms for several days, allowing the winds and seas to moderate, forming a "window".  The higher the high pressure, the longer it will take to dissipate, and the longer the weather "window".

So we watch a few sources of Pacific Ocean weather.  One can watch the Pacific pressure charts from NOAA, and their forecast movements.  We like it simple, so the text forecast for several days in the future, is for us.

Our first hurdle leaving San Francisco is Cape Mendocino, which some refer to as the Cape Horn of the Pacific Coast.  For that we watch the text coastal forecast for the Cape at zero to 10 miles offshore.  A high pressure will show as reduced seas and low wind velocity (usually an easterly) forecast several days in advance.

We've broken the 100-hour trip into ten legs of about 12 hours or less duration with sheltered stops. With good weather, we will run 24-7 combining multiple legs into long runs.  The ten legs, duration and applicable text forecasts are shown below.

SAN FRANCISCO TO ANACORTES IN 10 LEGS

1. WESTPOINT HARBOR TO BODEGA BAY - 8 hrs

SF BAY:  http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz530.txt

PT REYES TO PIGEON PT: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz545.txt

PT ARENA TO PT REYES: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz540.txt

2. BODEGA BAY TO LITTLE RIVER - 9 hrs

PT ARENA TO PT REYES: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz540.txt

CAPE MENDO TO PT ARENA: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz455.txt

3. LITTLE RIVER TO EUREKA - 11 hrs

CAPE MENDO TO PT ARENA: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz455.txt

PT ST GEORGE TO CAPE MENDO: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz450.txt

4. EUREKA TO CRESCENT CITY - 8 hrs

PT ST GEORGE TO CAPE MENDO: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz450.txt

5. CRESCENT CITY TO COOS BAY - 13 hrs

CAPE BLANCO TO POINT ST GEORGE: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz356.txt

FLORENCE TO CAPE BLANCO: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz350.txt

6. COOS BAY TO NEWPORT - 9 hrs

FLORENCE TO CAPE BLANCO: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz350.txt

CASCADE HEAD TO FLORENCE: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz255.txt

7. NEWPORT TO TILLAMOOK - 8 hrs

CASCADE HEAD TO FLORENCE: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz255.txt

CAPE SHOALWATER,WA TO CASCADE HEAD: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz250.txt

8. TILLAMOOK TO GRAYS HARBOR - 12 hrs

CAPE SHOALWATER,WA TO CASCADE HEAD: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz250.txt

COLUMBIA RIVER BAR: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz210.txt

GRAYS HARBOR BAR: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz110.txt

9. GRAYS HARBOR TO NEAH BAY - 12 hrs

GRAYS HARBOR BAR: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz110.txt

PT GRENVILLE TO CAPE SHOALWATER: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz156.txt

JAMES ISLAND TO PT GRENVILLE: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz153.txt

CAPE FLATTERY TO JAMES ISLAND: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz150.txt

WEST ENTRANCE JUAN DE FUCA STRAIT: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz130.txt

10. NEAH BAY TO ANACORTES - 10 hrs

WEST ENTRANCE JUAN DE FUCA STRAIT: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz130.txt

CENTRAL JUAN DE FUCA STRAIT: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz131.txt

SAN JUAN ISLANDS: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz133.txt