by Mike Godsey, mikeATiwindsurf.com Pt. Isabel has, by far, the most interesting cruising ground for windsurfers and kiters in the Bay Area. Where can you round and island, speed sail in glassy waters, find large rolly swell while watching the Golden Gate and the San Francisco skyline. There is just one downside to Pt. Isabel….
by Mike Godsey, mike@iwindsurf.com & Matt Sounders A few days ago I wrote a blog about the strange Cut-Off Low at ≈ 18,000 ft. feet between Hawaii and Baja that was tracking towards San Francisco where it would bring epic winds. Then how the Cut-Off Low would create explosive winds for the Gorge First –…
By WeatherFlow meteorologist Shea Gibson on Sunday May 31, 2020. Earlier this morning, the first named storm of the seasoned formed in the eastern north Pacific: Tropical Storm Amanda Winds 35kts gusting to 45kts As of 4PM CDT today from the NHC Eastern Pacific, the storm became a remnant low and the last advisory was…
by Mike Godsey, mikeATiwindsurf.com Did you notice fast the sky changed today from crystal blue to cloudy? That event is something we have been forecasting for days. Clearly, something is about to happen. Remember the old days when it seemed that wind was just about the pressure gradient? And while the forecasts were crappy more…
by Mike Godsey So today looked like a pretty routine forecast with a shallow marine layer and a low pressure retracts back to the valley and I expected the pressure gradient to go up up and the NW winds curve in. With the strongest pressure gradient towards Stockton I expected the winds to peak in…
by Mike Godsey About a week ago I mentioned a wayward Cut-Off Low located between Hawaii and Baja up at ≈ 18,000 ft. At the time it looked like it would march towards Northern California and impact the Bay Area. Turn out I was right on. This animation shows the Cut-Off Low as well as…
We’re rapidly approaching that time of year when the heavy taps of rain and rumbles of thunder outside are sounds you can set your watch by. Those in the south are first to notice the transition from late-Spring cool fronts to humid stagnant air and the ritual of afternoon thunderstorms. But why do thunderstorms seem…
By Meteorologist, Kerry Challoner Anderson The beaches are gradually opening in California this Memorial Day weekend and just in time. We will need to find places to cool down as the forecast models are showing a quick build of an upper-level ridge over the West Coast. And it won’t be going anywhere too soon. The…
When looking at gradients in the Gorge, we often look for a thermal low, connected to the Great Basin, which often sits in the Columbia Plateau most of the summer. But in Spring, when upper level lows are present, a surface low pressure gets created out ahead, under the highest Differential Potential Vorticity Advection (DPVA)….
by Mike Godsey, mikeATiwindsurf.com If you saw my 11:30 AM forecast you know I was not very bullish about the Isla Vista to Leadbetter winds: “IF you see the eddy die by early afternoon there a slight chance of mid to upper-teens for Isla Vista but weaker Leadbetter.” Eddies are always hard to forecast especially…