West Coast Wind Blog: Huge high pressure creates Diablo, El Norte, Santa Ana & “Rooster” winds
by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com Here is the story of this massive wind event in imagery and animations.
Category: Columbia River Gorge
West Coast Wind Blog: Live: Hurricane Dorian hits Weatherflow HurrNet sensors
by Mike Godsey Hurricane Dorian is bearing down on our hundred+ hardened weather stations along the eastern seaboard. As you can see in the attached photos these stations are massive and designed to survive at least 140 mph winds. This sensor mesonet will be providing critical information for the NWS/NOAA during the landfall. Here is…
West Coast Wind Blog: Bluff Reports and the changing Gorge winds.
by Mike Godsey, mikeATiwindsurf.com ROUGH DRAFT There was a recent forum thread on the Gorge Classic iwindsurf.com page asking “are there gustier winds this summer?” The forum thread had answers ranging from “Obviously!” to “I hear this every year!” How you expereince gusts is impacted by many things like your gear, sail size, years in…
West Coast Wind Blog: Gorge and Bay Area wind and weather go bonkers!
Gorge version by Matt Souders & Mike Godsey You may have noticed that the wind and weather has gone a bit bonkers at times this year for much of the west coast. You’re not wrong – the data backs up your impression. And, no, it is not Global Weirding, at least not directly. This year…
West Coast Wind Blog: Blame it on the Kid. Part 2, the aftermath.
by Mike Godsey, mikeATiwindsurf.com In Part 1 of this blog, Blame in on the kid I wrote about how unusual this season has been due in part to an El Nino pattern. And for the west coast, El Nino means an unusually southerly storm track. That blog left off talking about an 1000 mile…
West Coast Wind Blog: Blame in on the kid: Gorge winds weaken: Part One
by Mike Godsey, mikeATiwindsurf.com Here is part 2 of this blog. Did you notice how much weaker the Gorge winds were yesterday July 8, 2019? And you have also probably noticed that this season has mostly had cooler air and water temperatures for this time of year. And there have been more winds out…
West Coast Wind Blog: Using sensors in the Wall to Rufus corridor
by Mike Godsey, mikeATiwindsurf.com We have added a Public Domain sensor located on the John Day River Bridge east of Rufus. It will read LOW compared to the actual wind at Rufus but by looking at the wind at The Wall sensor and this sensor you will have a good idea of how windy it…
West Coast Wind Blog: Ships at Sea and using the right tools.
by Mike Godsey, mike AT iwindsurf.com Note: This blog uses Southern California as an example of picking the best model using ship reports but the basic idea of the blog is relevant to all regions in the USA. On winter days as I walk through the La Ventana campground I am always impressed by the…
West Coast Wind Blog: How winds aloft impact the strength of the North Pacific High and California winds April 9.
Upper convergence and divergence the strength of the North Pacific High: by Mike Godsey, mikeATiwindsurf.com ROUGH DRAFT There is a tendency of many kiters and especially sailors to look at the wind from a 2-dimensional perspective. This means we only care about the direction and strength of the wind. Although kiters are sometimes aware that their…
West Coast Wind Blog: An “Omega Block” is not a watch brand boycott.
by Mike Godsey, Mike AT iwindsurf.com This symbol, omega, is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and a famous watch brand. But in meteorology, it is the shape of the omega symbol, written in our upper-level winds, that has locked most of the west coast into a weather pattern with little day to day…