As can see from the forecast headline screen shot the forecast for Saturday said mid to upper teens IF we got some holes in the heavy clouds otherwise the wind would stay way outside. Those winds seemed pretty likely at dawn and by noon I was chickening out on my forecast since the satellite image…
So how can we have 2 days with very strong El Norte winds on Feb. 7 and 8th then have Saturday Feb. 9 have such a weak wind forecast? Remember that weather generally moves from the west to the east. And on Saturday a strong low pressure storm system crashes into the Northern California to…
I am sure when you saw my forecast days ago for big winds starting early in the morning of Thursday, Dec. 7 you were skeptical. After all the forecasts are often off on even weak thermal wind days so how could a big wind forecast days in advance be taken seriously. But paradoxically large scale,…
The wind situation looked pretty dismal but looking aloft or at the satellite imagery as clouds streamed overhead. Find Isla Cerralvo and then the curve of La Ventana Bay at the start of this Wednesday satellite video. You can see the massive clouds streaming from the SW. So why did I forecast up and down…
Today’s winds will be strong but may have a slight NNW direction. To get these winds to curve into La Ventana we need good heating in the Los Planes Valley. But this morning the high relatively heavy clouds streaming from the SW at ≈ 18,000 ft. from do not look promising in the satellite imagery…
Sometimes there is a stinger to strong wind that makes the experience less than perfect. Tomorrow that stinger will probably be sporadic weak WNW -NNW gusts that will try to push the favorable El Norte (North) winds away from shore. This first image from John S’s weather station at the north end of the La…
NNW ocean winds and NE inland winds battle near Pismo Beach making forecasting tricky. I know it is frustrating when the wind forecast babbles on with lots of maybes and issues etc. Today’s wind forecast for Pismo Beach is a classic. The forecast talks about very strong ocean wind but it ends up telling you…
All from chilly high pressure in the Great Basin area! A glance at the NWS technical discussions above tells you that localized big wind events are the story for Southern California, San Francisco Bay Area and the Gorge this morning. Also, notice the mention of compressional heating and the winds fading in the afternoon. First, check out the Gorge map to the…
Part one: The entire west coast has light wind as the North Pacific High abandons the eastern Pacific. Yesterday and the preceding days have seen easterly winds the Gorge and weak southerly winds for most of coastal California. Notably absent were the northerly winds along the coast and the high pressure that makes of a critical part of the normal wind…