By now, you’re likely curious about the underlying factors responsible for the persistent occurrence of eddies and southerly winds along the coast. Actually, if you play north of the Bay Bridge, you have probably been too busy enjoying the WSW eddy wind to give it a thought. But if you ply the waters of…
In the last decade, we have seen more days with WSW flow in the Hwy in 92 Gap and the nearby coast range area. These winds, sometimes called “Evil Winds” can mess up the launch site winds. They also make our forecast for good channel winds frustrating. (This recent blog talks about one of the…
Today, Friday, June 11, 2023, it really looks like another “Big Eddy” develops this Sunday. Drop to the bottom of this blog to see how it happens. For background, keep reading: Most of you know that our San Francisco Bay Area wind patterns are changing. The upper-level winds that make up upper ridges and troughs…
Hi Mac, In normal years the battle is between the “good” NW ocean winds that curve through the Golden Gate and become steady WSW winds that go towards Pt. Isabel and Berkeley VERSUS The “bad” winds are triggered NW winds aloft that come over the Nacasio and Fairfax gaps in Marin’s coast range. Those winds turn WNW…
Hi fxop, Great question! For a quick answer to your question about Kerry’s forecast, skip to the bottom. To really understand what is happening, here is some background. Palo Alto is less prone than 3rd. Ave. to that battle between the “Good” wind and the “Bad wind” that can spoil the winds in the sail/kite/wing area, especially at the launch. The forces…
For days now, the San Francisco Bay Area has been blessed or cursed by a counter-clockwise spinning west of the Golden Gate. You love the eddy pattern if you wind/kite/sail at most sites north of the SFO airport. But if you ply the water on the coast or south of the airport, you probably hate…
So, what is causing us to have day after day of strong NW ocean winds AND having a pressure gradient spread between Sacramento, Stockton and towards Bakersfield that is delivering wind to almost every site in the Bay Area? Usually, the North Pacific High stays near us for a few days and the winds are…
After experiencing strong NW winds from a massive 2500-mile-wide North Pacific High along the coast on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, it may seem peculiar to read about weak southerly winds for a storm system on Tuesday. However, this sudden shift in wind patterns is not uncommon and can be explained by weather phenomena that are…
Yesterday I made a rare forecast for almost every site in the Bay to blow since the pressure gradient to the Central Valley was pretty evenly split between Sacramento, Stockton and towards Bakersfield. This set up was covered in yesterday’s blog. As you can see in the imagery below most sites reached or exceeded the…
Forecasting wind for the San Francisco Bay Area is extremely tricky compared to the Southern California, Baja or The Gorge. All those sites usually have inbound wind coming from the coast heading inland and typically from one direction. The Bay Area can have NW or W or SW or SSW ocean winds. Plus it has…