Watch upper trough shove NPH to the south. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com I will add text to these 2 videos tomorrow but right now focus on the upper trough at ≈ 18,000 ft. in the top video. Then in the second video notice how the inbound upper trough is causing the North Pacific High to push a ridge into the Pacific…
Bay Area dodges 2 wind killing bullets! But Southern California winds take one in the heart. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com Normally on a day like this I use the phrase “it’s a race with the clock” but I was tired of that hackneyed wording and too lazy to dream up a replacement. But it was a race and…
Video: Why such a large and long lasting Catalina Eddy today? by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com The causes of the Catalina Eddy that so often shuts down Southern California winds while creating weak SSE wind are complex. And one of these days I will do a special blog covering that topic. But today let’s focus on why today’s Catalina Eddy is so…
Watch new North Pacific High approach the California coast. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com The old wimpy North Pacific High is dying fast along with its useless eddy producing North wind. A new powerful North Pacific High is inbound with an ETA Monday afternoon or Tuesday. Here is the story story in images.
North Pacific High: why the coast and the Gorge ripped yesterday. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com let’s take a quick look at the big picture behind yesterdays wind on the Oregon coast and in the Gorge. First, the simple concept of Gorge winds is the pressure gradient between the west and the east. But to forecast the development of…
Old crumpled NPH fades away while out in the pacific…. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com Ok, enough of this! Where the hell is the North Pacific High and our NW wind? The Cut-Off Low has passed and that is suppose to mean NW clearing winds in Southern California and the Bay Area. Yet we are seeing Sherman Island SW winds…
Gorge rips but location of North Pacific High helps a tiny eddy form west of the Bay Area by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com Usually I can discern any eddies west of the Golden Gate by their signature in the satellite imagery and looking at all the coast sensors. But today high clouds are obscuring that view and there are…
2 Videos: Surface low forms below Cut-Off Low and combo push the North Pacific High to the north. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com I will add more text the blog later but you can see the big news in those two videos. By themselves these critters are not too exciting wind wise BUT once they depart………
How can the wind blow 20 to 30 knots WEST Sunday and 20-30 knots EAST Monday? by Mike Godsey To understand this crazy 180 degree switch in wind direction you have to look at the big picture. Take a look at the video of the Pacific yesterday that I annotated. Find the North Pacific High the winds that spiral out…
What does a cold front have to do with NW wind? Yesterday versus Today. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com How many times have you seen a graphic like this one on the TV or the web? And you many times have you read in our forecasts that “cold front is approaching” etc? You must have wondered…