This animation shows how large scale events distant California both vertically and horizontally can impact our temperatures and winds. Looking at this animation first notice the upper trough and upper ridge that are moving towards the Golden State from the west. Focus on the upper ridge which is a northward extending loop of upper-level winds at…
Once again the west coast has a dome of high pressure over the entire region. For the San Francisco Bay Area this dome of upper-level high pressure at ≈ 18,000 ft. has: 1. Crushed the marine layer to a patchy thin layer of fog. 2. Compacted all the smoke down to near the surface. 3. Created…
Weatherflow San Francisco Bay Area wind forecast by Mike Godsey San Francisco Bay Area forecast at 11:30 AM: Looking at over a dozen cams about the Bay Area and at the satellite imagery we see an apocalyptic scene filled with reddish smoke intermingled with marine layer fog. Streetlights are still on at 11 AM and…
If the model data is right it looks like we are transitioning into 7 days of a steadily enlarging eddy. To put this in perspective… 20 years ago we saw an eddy once or twice a season. This animation below shows some of the major surface players in creating this scenario over the next…
by Mike Godsey, mike AT windsurf.com This photo, taken by Jaden Schaul @santacruzfilms, shows roll clouds at the leading edge of thunderstorm and lightning at Santa Cruz last night. The graphic at the end of this blog shows how roll clouds form in thunderstorms. Long time WeatherFlow customer Ron P. lives in Greenbrae in…
Part 1 the big picture. The headlines are heating up about record temperatures being set from Salt Lake City to Tucson to Dallas and to the 0 percent contained ravaging Southern California fires. At this time it looks like Death Valley, the hottest place on the planet, will reach 127 by Monday. In response, the…
This is just a quick visual on the just forming small eddy west of the Golden Gate. This eddy will greatly enlarge during the next 12 hours and bring southerly winds to much of the Central California coast. It is all a matter of perspective… All available data still supports this bipartisan forecast. Watch…
Gusts and lulls, up and down, crazy wind. Why are winds sometimes mild and other times wild? There are many complex meteorological causes for the turbulence that causes gusts and lulls, but here we focus on gusts and lulls winds where the causes are very local and easy to visualize. The local cause of gusts…
Way back in June I said in the iwindsurf.com forums: “Hi jgda, …we are in the early phase of a La Nina pattern. This means wider N-S swings in the pattern of upper trough and upper ridges inbound from the Pacific We will probably have more such swings this summer which in theory means more…
surfersteve wrote: “It feels like the corridor (Hatchery/Cheap stretch) has been particularly lumpy this year regarding of water level, flow rate, or wind direction. Curious if others have thoughts on this.” Hi Steve, The short answer is in the image below. Longer answer: Swell size and period and steepness vs. chop is related to: 1….