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

by Mike Godsey Forecast Jargon Docoder: Thursday, April 4, 2024 A 2800-mile-wide North Pacific High spans the waters from the Gulf of Alaska to near the tip of Baja so very strong NNW ocean winds are blasting past of the Farallon Islands (18 miles west Gate). Unfortunately, a tiny 150-mile-wide wide low-pressure area loiters all day just west of the Golden Gate bending the NPH’s northerly winds into unreliable W to WSW winds intermingled with wind-killing showers. You would think a massive NPH would quickly destroy this tiny low-pressure zone. However, the counter-clockwise winds of the low ..read more

by Mike Godsey Forecast Jargon Decoder: April 2, 2024 Amazingly in April, we have a perfect mid-winter pattern with Windy Duo, the North Pacific High, and the Four Corners high-pressure making a cameo appearance. Their isobars merge over the southern Sea of Cortez pumping northerly winds towards a low-pressure well south of Cabo Wabo. Add to that a strong pressure gradient towards our Coastal Valleys and you have EARLY strong winds to the beaches and beyond. Strong N. winds ≈ 1000 feet aloft (975 MB) aloft add a GUST factor had the swirl to the surface after hitting the nearby Sierra Cac ..read more

Mike Godsey Forecast Decoder: March 31, 2024 Link to full 7:30 AM forecast for each site. Today, the North Pacific High’s surface NW winds really ramp up west of the Farallon Islands (18 miles west Gate). Sadly, the storm tracks further down the coast and ends up near Southern California. This produces an N. to S. pressure gradient rather than the typical gradient towards the Great Basin as a storm moves east. This makes the ocean winds near the coast in the AM and early afternoon more NNW rather than the typical NW. This, in turn, delays and weakens the clearing winds that often follow the ..read more

by Mike Godsey Historically the winds on Baja’s East Cape, Rasta Beach to La Ventana to Los Barriles corridor, begin to fade as spring approaches. This happens as the North Pacific High moves towards Alta California and high-pressure systems in Four Corners become less common. This leaves Baja’s East Cape with only Local Sea Breezes that become progressively weaken and become more ENE to NE to E until they become an unfavorable onshore ESE direction. At this point the campground empties of wind junkes and many of the houses empty. And the villages of El Sargento and La Ventana become more like ..read more

Mike Godsey Reading Matt Sounders forecast for solid NNE wind yesterday I was very skeptical. From my house, I was looking at lots of wind-killing clouds and a glassy Sea of Cortez. But, like magic, the clouds parted and a delightful combo of mild “El Norte” winds and robust Local Sea Breezes sent hundreds of wings, kites and even a few windsurfers skimming across the water. Looking at today’s sky above and the sparser clouds it is far easier to forecast clearing. But how did Matt make that great forecast yesterday when things looked so dismal at dawn? If you have watched a time-lapse video ..read more

Mike Godsey Forecast Decoder for March 12, 2024: Good but cloudy fishing conditions in the AM then, if the clouds clear as forecast, late foil to large kite winds strongest at Rasta Beach. Note: “El Norte” winds ramp up Saturday and peak Sunday Yep, the sunrise is beautiful but those heavy clouds often mean a weak wind day. But looking at the satellite image we can see the clouds are from a 400-mile-wide Sub-Tropical Jetstream flowing from the WSW at about 70 knots and extending from the tropics to Florida.  The good news is that Baja’s East Cape is right on the northern edge of th ..read more

Mike Godsey During El Niño years it is more common to have the clouds of the Sub-Tropical Jetstream over Baja Sur. While La Ventana often has nice sunrises these jet clouds This often create spectacular sunrises in the La Ventana area making the village a window to the eastern sunrise. Sometimes the clouds linger the entire day over Baja’s East Cape spoiling the winds. Other times the clouds clear allowing mild local Sea Breezes to develop to the delight of wind sport addicts like myself. As much as I love wind I have an equal love of the spectacular sunrises the clouds bring as I look east ..read more