Still in practice

There was a lot of weather to talk about in September, particularly in the tropics. I’m happy to report, however, that we were able to keep our touch for forecasting across the country. Forecasts for Bellingham were pretty unified across the board, and the verified weather at the end of September was a carbon copy from one day to another, but I can claim that Victoria-Weather was able to secure the victory all by ourselves, even if it was by the narrowest of margins.
Actuals: September 29th, High 74, Low 48
September 30th, High 74, Low 48

Grade: C

Michigan City, Indiana to Bellingham, Washington

It’s autumn, and it ure feels that way east of the Rockies, even if that’s not the case along the west coast. We’ll take a 4 day run to Puget Sound, which will cover 2182 miles. There is a lot of interstate contained on this route, even if we are covering some high terrain, so the pace will be about 68.2 mph, good for 545 miles a day.

DAY ONE (Thursday)

Michigan City, Indiana

One of the factors in the Upper Midwest being cooler than normal is the presence of deep low pressure over Labrador, which is swinging more cold air and troughing into the area. It will clear up today in Michigan City, but more drizzle and clouds will emerge by tomorrow morning, and will be the situation through most of our Thursday drive. Some drips and drops will spatter our windshield through Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison, and probably won’t truly clear up until after we pass through LaCrosse. We’ll make it to Lakefield, Minnesota before we pull off for the night.

DAY TWO (Friday)
High pressure is entrenched west of that deep area of low pressure. There might be a few high streaking clouds over the western Dakotas, but I would hard pressed to believe they will touch the ground. We’ll traverse South Dakota and clip northeastern Wyoming before we stop in Boyes, Montana, a ghost town in the southeastern corner of the state. It’s going to start warming up by the end of the day.

DAY THREE (Saturday)
The entirety of our day will be spent in the windswept prairies of eastern Montana, and the peaks of western Montana that will be significantly less windswept, and definitely not as cool as you might hope. We’ll make it to Wye, on the northwest side of Missoula, and call it a night.

DAY FOUR (Sunday)
The best news for our Sunday drive is that the threat for wildfires in the Pacific Northwest has significantly lessened. It will be dry and unseasonably warm in the interior west, before it gets a bit more comfortably as we head north from Seattle into Bellingham.

By Nick Kelly / Faithlife Corporation – Faithlife Corporation, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37611512

Bellingham, Washington

It’s interesting how things can change, isn’t it? Usually, when we consider a forecast for a place like western Washington, we would wonder about the threat for rain, but now we are left speculating about the continued impact of so little rain.

At 1253PM, PT, Bellingham was reporting a temperature of 69 degrees with clear skies. There isn’t much going on in the Pacific Northwest, and the only activity on the west coast satellite imagery was smoke emanating from fires in northern California.
Strong low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska is barricaded by high pressure in the west coast. A strong ridge aided by some southerly flow will ensure that Washington remains clear and dry for at least the next two days.
Tomorrow – High 75, Low 52
Wednesday – High 76, Low 52

TWC: Tomorrow – Mainly sunny High 72, Low 53
Wednesday – Sunny.  High 75, Low 54

AW: Tomorrow – Pleasant with plenty of sun High 71, Low 52
Wednesday – Warm and smoky with hazy sunshine High 72, Low 52

NWS: Tomorrow – Sunny, High 73, Low 53
Wednesday – Sunny, High 74, Low 55

WB: Tomorrow – Sunny, High 71, Low 52
Wednesday – Sunny, High 73, Low 56

WN: Tomorrow – Mostly sunny High 74, Low 53
Wednesday – Mostly sunny, High 75, Low 55

FIO: Tomorrow – Clear throughout the day. High 72, Low 51
Wednesday – Clear throughout the day. High 74, Low 55

Pretty quiet in western Washington, but no news isn’t always good news. Here is a look at the satellite with fires blazing across western Washington.