Heat wave ends and marine surge fizzles as Upper level high pressure retreats too fast. by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com Well last Thursday I forecast a major marine surge to hit the S. F. Bay yesterday and there is no hint to masses of cool fog and strong SW wind pouring through the Golden Gate. What happened? The simple answer is that yesterday…
Watch as an upper trough buds off a Cut-Off Low by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com Most sailors, kiters and windsurfers have come to know that a Cut-Off Low is a forecasters woe. One wag on the forums once said of Cut-Off Lows that he suspected we made them up on days when we did not have a clue what would happen…
Video: Upper level high pressure bakes California and The Gorge but big winds a-coming! by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com It is rare to have a single satellite video that shows so much weather action. In fact so much is happening today that it is easy to get lost. So first let’s freeze frame all the action and…
Upper level high pressure crushes the marine layer clouds by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com The San Francisco Bay Area and The Gorge are about to transition into to a hot weather pattern with a contraction of the wind zone to sites near the coast. Let’s take a look at what causes this by focusing on the…
Set to music of Dire Straits: “I want my NPH” by Mike Godsey, mike at iwindsurf.com The Gorge and the Bay Area are going through a unseasonal wet weak wind period. Normally after a cloudy period like this a burst of wind returns as the North Pacific High slams back to the west coast to reclaim…
What happens to the North Pacific High when a storm targets the Bay Area: by Mike Godsey Today, Saturday June 22, we have a very unusual winter type storm system moving in from the NW. The storm system, which arrives Monday, consists of an upper trough at about 18,000 ft. and below it 2 surface lows each with counter-clockwise spinning winds….
Cut-Off Low usually have a bad rap but…… by Mike Godsey Cut-Off Lows form when a counter-clockwise spinning low pressure pinches off from passing upper troughs at around 18K feet. The winds at about 18K feet on the average are important in moving weather from west to east around the world. Once you have a Cut-Off Low to…
This video from this Friday May, 31 shows the clouds and winds at about 18,000 feet in the pacific west of California. The dark green areas are high levels of moisture. The dark gray areas are very dry air. Notice the northward extending loop in the upper level clouds. This is called an upper level high…
The North Pacific High is anchored to the Central California coast by a near Omega Block over the Great Plains. Once this pattern breaks down the North Pacific High will begin its normal wobbling about the pacific sometimes favoring California other times Hawaii. Mike Godsey