Mike Godsey Hi Guys, I have spent hundreds of hours studying this issue by driving around the Peninsula especially the Half Moon Bay area. It is frustrating for me not to have a simple solution. Basic information:  Unlike most Bay launch sites, the 3rd Ave. area is fed wind from 2 different gap areas in the Coast Range:  1. The broad NW-facing San Bruno Gap, which our 1km model resolves pretty well.  2. The narrow, winding, WSW-facing Hwy. 92 gap area that our 1 km model can not resolve. Having 2 gaps often results in a wind battleline between strong WNW and we ..read more

Mike Godsey Today we see a NW-WNW pattern with strong gusty winds focused on the coast, Anita Rock to Palo Alto and Tomales to Rod and Gun to Benicia. This blog helps you turn the forecast words into weather images. pattern is created by: 1. The center of the North Pacific High moves closer to us. 2. This brings strong NW ocean winds to the California coast. 3. There is a strong pressure gradient from the coast to Stockton and on to Bakersfield, which favors WNW winds in the Bay. 4. Strong NNW to NW winds just aloft add a shifty gust factor and push the surface winds the launch sites at Ocean ..read more

Mike Godsey Photos sent by Rémy Thellier These photos from the Ocean Beach King of the Cove event on April 26, 2024, tell the wind story. But if you need convincing that this was an epic day, look at the powerful winds at almost every WeatherFlow-Tempest shoreline sensor in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Red circles show sites with strong winds. The blue circles show the few sites with weak winds. Both red and blue circles largely conformed to the values in my forecasts that day. Lets look at Friday’s forecast and dissect what caused those epic winds and the weak winds at Pt. Isabel and Ber ..read more

Mike Godsey Forecast Jargon Decoder, April 26, 2024 Powerful GUSTY EARLY winds hit Bay from Ocean Beach to Benicia and Sherman Island and Crissy to Palo Alto. The “Perfect Wind” scenario yesterday replays today BUT with a much stronger gradient towards Bakersfield! Wind Whys: See the circled areas around Pt. Isabel and 3rd. Ave. These are trouble spots in forecasting. Can you tell why? Whitecaps at Anita Rock at dawn foretell the AM story up and down bands of strong wind. Looking at the graphic you can see that this wind develops as: 1. A very large North Pacific High delivers even stron ..read more

Max pressure gradient split between Sacramento, Stockton and towards Bakersfield so NW ocean winds accelerate to almost every site that CLEARS. Mike Godsey Forecast Jargon Decoder, April 25, 2024 The eddy and its southerly winds are history as low to mid-20’s winds develop due to: 1. a 3000-mile wide dome of high-pressure, the North Pacific High’s NW ocean winds reclaim our coastal waters. 2. Mid-day, those winds accelerate as they compress through gaps in the Coast Range (such as San Bruno Gap, Nacasio Gap, Alameny Gap, Golden Gate, and the Carquiniz Strait). You can find some of these gaps ..read more

Forecast Jargon Decoder: Mon, Apr 22 2024 Wind forecast For Monday:   Synopsis: The North Pacific High’s surface NW winds move further from shore as low-pressure moves over the coast in the AM, and a counter-clockwise eddy develops encouraged by the low-pressure and NNE winds aloft. The eddy never dies even as the low-pressure retreats back to the Central Valley the max pressure gradient is pretty evenly split between Chico, Sacramento, and Stockton which encourages SW winds in the coast and inside the Bay. The post West Coast Wind Blog: Stunningly fast change from strong NW to ..read more

by Mike Godsey Forecast Jargon Decoder: Friday April 16 Synoposis: The US ship Bell Shimada 50 miles west of the Golden Gate is reporting 1-knot west wind which tells that the North Pacific High’s surface NW winds are far from shore while the coast sensors are showing southerly eddy winds from Monterey to Mendocino. Still, I expect the eddy to fade in the afternoon. This AM low-pressure has swelled from a low-pressure over the Las Vegas area to cover the Bay Area. This has spun up a counter-clockwise eddy and southerly coast winds over much of the coast. As the eddy dies midd ..read more

by Mike Godsey Are you are an avid West Coast surfer, kiteboarder, windsurfer, winger or sailor or just love to watch huge surf? Then you love the NW clearing winds and waves from the North Pacific High that commonly follow a spring storm. The typical pattern is for a day or two of southerly winds and rain which taper off leaving California with weaker and less reliable winds until the next storm approaches. Lets take a deeper look at storm winds. Southerly Storm Winds: As a storm approaches the clouds increase and bands of showers and rain sweep over the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern ..read more

Kerry Challoner Anderson I was one of many Americans who spent time and money to position myself, and a bunch of my family, in the path of totality for today’s eclipse. Was it worth it?….ABSOLUTELY. I could wax poetic about how bizarre it was to stare at the sun being gobbled as the moon passed in front of it. Or the quick transition to a “dusk-like” darkness for just a few minutes. The street lights came on and the birds started to chirp. As the sky darkened we were able to view Jupiter and Venus during mid-day. Venus to the right of the sun at totality. At this point, I could add more photo ..read more

by Mike Godsey Forecast Jargon Decoder: April 7, 2024 Strong coast winds and GUSTY LATE winds Crissy Beach to Alameda to Peninsula launch sites. Weaker WNW for Benicia, Pt. Isabel, Race Track and Berkeley. Update: Getting skeptical about the strong wind forecast inside the Bay given the current weak NE winds? I am keeping to the current forecast since Waddell is gusting to 26 and Bodega Tomales and Stinson are building fast. I suspect the winds will arrive inside the Bay LATER than forecast but still reach forecast values. From 7:30 AM: I understand that the glassy waters in the Crissy ..read more