Blog: Gorge and Bay Area wind and weather go bonkers!

[windfind]

Hi Gang,

As you have probably noticed the wind and weather has been changing in the Gorge.

The days with very deep marine layer clouds in the far corridor have become less frequent.

Days with dawn patrol winds to evening winds are less common.

Days with only an hour or 2 of good wind are increasingly common.

Subtle changes in wind direction have made formerly reliable sensors and launch sites less predictable.

And winters seem more likely to swing wildly from very mild to heavy snow in March.

And this Gorge wind season has been especially variable.

And weird changes in the wind patterns extend beyond the Gorge. They are also occurring along the whole west coast all the way to La Ventana and especially for the San Francisco Bay Area.

The reasons for all this are complex. This blog covers some of those complex reasons in a simplified fashion.

https://blog.weatherflow.com/west-coast-wind-blog-gorge-and-bay-area-wind-and-weather-go-bonkers/

Looking at the image below notice how during July from 1967 to 2010 the North Pacific High was for decades roughly oval. Compare it to the shape yesterday as it was battered by unseasonal storms (the round isobar patterns between parts of the NPH). This is due in part the the atypical southerly storm track.

It is normal for the NPH to briefly change shape as systems cruise by the north. But this season is is hugely different and has spent times with part of it past northern Alaska.

Mike Godsey
iwindsurf.com/ikitesurf.com
Weatheflow.com