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…
Celebrate or lament the death of the August 17 to 22 Cut-Off Low? by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com The formation of Cut-Off Lows are fascinating and you can see this one being created by scrolling down through recent blogs. But today, August 17, we are seeing the death of the Cut-Off Low that hovered near the Bay Area at ≈ 18,000 ft….
Cut-Off Low returns to its birth location. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com Way back on Aug. 18 I posted this unusual satellite video of an upper trough at ≈ 18,000 ft. turning into a Cut-Off Low just west of the Bay Area and deepening the marine layer clouds and creating SW flow just aloft: https://blog.weatherflow.com/?p=14413…
Cut-Off Low unexpectedly kills Southern California coast winds. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com The forecast was clear that the winds were in jeopardy today due to a nagging vague Catalina Eddy and the threat of clouds forming due to a Cut-Off Low over the S. F. Bay Area. But nothing in the forecast prepared you for the almost complete lack of wind. So what…