UPDATED Video: Unending SW flow ALL DAY!

windfind · Joined: 18 Mar 1997 Posts: 1901

Hey Gang,

If you are a coast sailor or kiter or your home waters are adversely impacted by SW flow you are probably wondering what is going on this summer.

And the forecast geek talk about counter-clockwise spinning surface eddies and 850mb lows over the Bay Area does not help much.

So below is a split screen animation that shows the 2 causes of today's southerly flow.

On the LEFT you can see the surface eddy that is created by the North Pacific High perversely having NNE wind west of the ocean buoys.

On the RIGHT you can see the model output of the 850 mb low pressure area at 5000 feet centered right over the Bay Area.

Together these features maintain southerly flow most of the day. However I am forecasting both of these critters to die tomorrow so the Waddell, Crissy, Coyote & 3rd. winds should improve Friday.

Mike Godsey
iwindsurf.com

veterduet · Joined: 29 Jun 2000 Posts: 268

Mike

Love that counterclockwise eddy! This has been one of the best seasons I can remember at PT. Isabel/Marina Bay. Those South Bay and Penninsula folks should be doing the reverse of the drive I used to do to Candlestick when the wind was predominantly NW and the east bay was spotty at best.

dvCali · Joined: 23 Aug 2007 Posts: 1314

This has been one of the worst Mid July -Aug seasons in a few years! Maybe September October will pick it up. I sailed plenty (especially at TI/Coyote) but I cannot remember another year when I MTB so much in summer! Very Happy

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

Fantastic wind year for Larkspur and Berkeley, Pt.Isabelle too.

windfind · Joined: 18 Mar 1997 Posts: 1901

Yes, the combo of the Golden Gate, passing Cut-Off Low and frequent upper troughs has made this best season in many years for Larkspur, Pt. Isabel, Berkeley and sometimes Sherman Island.

The satellite imagery below shows today's tiny Golden Gate eddy did in keep spinning from pre dawn to late afternoon. So I was right and the models were wrong about the all day southerly flow. But if you look carefully at the last few frames you can see then North Pacific High sneaking a squirt of NW wind into the Peninsula.

Mike Godsey
iwindsurf.com