Monday, August 7, 2017

Local Weather Office Forecasts Smoke, but not Fog!

Smoke is clearly on our minds these days here in Puget Sound, and for good reason. But it seems to have distracted our local weather forecasters.  They are  forecasting "patchy smoke" that does indeed put a haze over the local waters, but they are omitting completely the pea soup fog we are having in the early mornings over Puget Sound.  What is limiting the visibility here is fog, not smoke.  The smoke is just damaging our lungs.


Synopsis: PZZ100-080100- 852 AM PDT Mon Aug 7 2017 .Synopsis for the northern and central Washington coastal and inland waters...High pres offshore with lower pres inland will result in onshore flow of varying strength through midweek. $$
Today
N wind 10 kt or less. Wind waves 1 ft or less. Patchy smoke.
Tonight And Tue
N wind 10 kt or less. Wind waves 1 ft or less. Patchy smoke.
Tue Night Through Thu
N wind 10 kt or less. Wind waves 1 ft or less.
Fri
SW wind 10 kt or less. Wind waves 1 ft or less.

But not to worry.... We can forecast the fog ourselves very easily, especially with the aid of the UW Atmospheric Sciences Meteogram on the Fly. Here was the meteogram yesterday (1.3 km, WRF model).

When the air temp drops to the dew point, or within a couple degrees in a forecast like this, we can expect fog.  Should be even more fog tomorrow.

Here is a 3-min video on the use of the UW meteograms. 







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