Yesterday morning, February 20, even the Portuguese Man-of-Wars were becalmed along with Elizabeth on the Sea of Cortez. It is always amazing how windy it can be one day and so calm the next. After all, you learned in Beach Lore 101 that our winds are created by the pressure gradient produced by inland heating that makes a thermal wind. But often on Baja’s East Cape the hottest winter days are the calmest so there there is clearly more to the wind story.
In reality the strongest wind makers for the Sea of Cortez are centered to our north. Let’s check out where those wind machines were yesterday when the wind were so weak. In the left graphic notice how far the North Pacific High is from Baja so no wind help from that wind machine. Also note that there is low pressure over the Great Basin which gave much of the Sea of Cortez only weak southerly winds.
Now look at the modeled position of the North Pacific High this coming Thursday. And note the high pressure centers near the Great Basin. If all goes as modeled we see strong winds in the Sea of Cortez Thursday.
