Video: The NW winds return.....

[windfind]

Hi Gang,

As you have noticed I have a thing about the North Pacific High. If first fell in love with the NPH when at age 21 I took the money from a scholarship and bought a battered 24' sloop, a $28 plastic sextant, a book called "How to Teach Yourself Celestial Navigation" and borrowed copies of Nautical Almanac and HO249. (I know this sounds horrible but I was a poor Alabama kid who did not know any better. And I paid back the money many times over)

I had never heard to the North Pacific High so just headed out the Golden Gate straight towards Hawaii sans radio, life raft, flares etc. And of course 6 days later sailed right into the windless center of the NPH where I had a lot of time to think about winds.

I survived and to this day I am still entranced by something so big that it can create trade winds in Hawaii. NW winds on the California coast and turbocharge westerly winds in the Gorge.

So the last 2 weeks the NPH seems missing in action along the California coast. The contestants at the Waddell contest can attest to that absence.

So here is a blog showing where it has been located and why the Bay Area has seen so much early SW wind rather than the NW wind typical of late May and early June.

http://blog.weatherflow.com/where-are-california-nw-ocean-winds/

And the first image below shows what the North Pacific High is doing to the winds in the Gorge this morning.

Mike Godsey
iwindsurf.com