Sometimes pictures tell the story 
better than lots of words.
Usually, in the San Francis Bay Area, Central Coast and Southern California the winds are very different at different sites but today almost every site sees stronger than typical winds.
Take a look at the model forecast for the Bay Area today at 4 PM.
Note how almost every site has very strong winds in the low to mid 20’s or even stronger.
Now let’s look at the factors behind this wind event at the surface, at 1000 feet aloft and at ≈ 18,000 aloft