Good evening folks. Glad to hear that you are hunkered down, at some hot springs no less! The impending storm system is looking increasingly complicated and the front less organized according to the National Weather Service in Juneau, AK. Regardless, you should be experiencing it tomorrow with the rain and wind beginning to increase tonight. It appears that winds will continue to have a southerly component after the frontal passage, with another, weaker low pressure system heading your way on Thursday.
Current conditions: Environment Canada has issued a Gale Warning in your area. At Estevan Point to your north, the wind is out of the southeast at 16 knots and has been increasing since late last night, however Estevan Point appears to be experiencing higher winds that the buoys at sea and Env. Canada forecasts higher winds at the Point than elsewhere so perhaps there are topographical effects.
Short term: The exact location of the front is hard to pinpoint from satellite imagery but it will likely hit the west coast of Vancouver Island mid-day Wednesday with the effects being felt before then. Winds will continue to be out of the southeast with an increasing southerly component until the arrival of the front at which point they will shift to out of the west briefly. The wind speeds will increase to up to 35 knots at the arrival of the front. Seas will be building as well as the front approaches to 4 meters Wednesday morning.
Long term: As the front passes, the winds will shift briefly through westerly back to west-southwesterly until the next low pressure system arrives on Thursday. At that point they will swing around to out of the southeast and once that system is through they’ll be back to out of the west.
Tides at Saavedra Islands
2012-04-25 (Wednesday)
Time Height
PDT (m) (ft)
03:04 3.5 11.5
09:57 0.8 2.6
16:34 3.1 10.2
21:51 2.0 6.6
2012-04-26 (Thursday)
Time Height
PDT (m) (ft)
03:40 3.4 11.2
10:38 0.9 3.0
17:21 3.0 9.8
22:36 2.1 6.9
Stay warm !
Forecaster Brown