Upper level Cut-Off Low north of Hawaii targets California by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com The last week or so the Bay Area has basked under a upper level ridge at about 18,000 ft near the 500 mb level. The heat created by this high pressure has generally crushed the marine layer clouds and caused the Central Valley thermal low to expand…
Upper level ridge brings perfect fall weather and slack winds. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com Beautiful weather in store today but where is the wind? Take a look at the first image and find California and the Bay Area. Now notice that northward loop in the upper level winds. The area within that loop is called an upper ridge….
Why are we expecting such strong North winds tomorrow yet so few sites receive this wind by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com If you saw the gobbledegook forecast I posted yesterday, Oct 1, 2013, you have to wonder what all the stuff about strong ridges and the valley low expanding over the coast means. Every fall you see…
Below the upper trough you see in this video from 11:15 today, Sept. 20 is the cold front that is creating strong SW wind just aloft and at Sherman Island. Tomorrow will see showers in the North Bay as this feature grazes California on its way to the Pacific Northwest. In Southern California this upper trough will bring…
What is a ridge and how does it impact Bay Area winds? by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com Several times each season, especially in the fall, the forecast will mention something like this: “The North Pacific High has pushed a RIDGE into Northern California and the wind at the Bay’s surface and just aloft is weak NE in the AM”…
Cut-Off Low compacts North Pacific High against coast setting the stage for strong wind in the Bay and the Gorge. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com In this video BELOW we are seeing satellite imagery from 7AM this morning. The sensors on this satellite are set to detect water vapor and clouds ABOVE 10,00 feet so you are NOT…
Video: Upper Level low and haze trim pressure gradient by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com Glad I was not forecasting today. It is one of those frustrating days when the wind at almost every site is weaker than forecast. Worse at many sites the winds some sites were only 3-4 knots lower than forecast. The that 3-4 knots spelled the difference between…
Eddy larger than expected at 9AM today. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com If you look carefully at the satellite imagery in the area with the green arrows you can see the counter-clockwise spinning pattern of the Golden Gate eddy. This eddy is stronger than I expected and currently throwing weak SW flow at the Bay Area coast and helping push marine…
Pre-dawn about the Bay by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com I have almost 80 cams that auto load each forecast so I can check out the marine layer clouds distribution, depth and inversion. Sometimes the imagery, while grainy, tells a complex and beautiful tale as billowing clouds and topography interact embellish the story told by the models and…
Poor August winds and upper level high pressure by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com Perhaps you have noticed all the cranky comments perhaps brought on by the mostly crappy August winds. So for diversion let’s take a look at some of the major factors behind this wind drought. Perhaps using our brains will reduce the bile. Take a…