Wind and waves

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Coast route to Santa Cruz

I wish I had access to a similar picture fore other areas to the south
and east of this frame, that gives excellent information of the winds.
One of the more important areas is th coast south of this picture
because the wind blows from NNW usually but often dies before reaching
Santa Cruz, down the coast.

Maybe that's from that semi-permanent, rotating
low pressure air mass located just off the coast,
that sends cool SE winds via Colorado into the
Pacific Northwest.

In summer, we usually get a high-pressure, offshore
ridge along the coastal waters, which, coupled with
a more northerly Jet Stream, usually protects us from
those onslaughts, and allows a little bit of the warmer
Prevailing Westerlies to sneak through onto land.
Not this year (so far.) The Jet Stream is still
dipping deeply southward along the coast, and the
Pacific Northwest always seems to be on the wrong
side of it.

I've noted a great dearth of flying insects so far
this spring/summer, and I opine it's largely due
to current weather. There should be many more bees,
dragonflies & butterflies about. It's simply been
too cold & wet for them to flourish.

cheers,
Tom
--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Tom Keats said:

Quoted message said:

Coast route to Santa Cruz

http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/wind/streaklines.shtml

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I wish I had access to a similar picture for other areas to the
south and east of this frame, that gives excellent information of
the winds. One of the more important areas is th coast south of
this picture because the wind blows from NNW usually but often dies
before reaching Santa Cruz, down the coast.

Quoted message said:

Maybe that's from that semi-permanent, rotating low pressure air
mass located just off the coast, that sends cool SE winds via
Colorado into the Pacific Northwest.

I don't understand what Colorado, located two major mountain ranges
east has to do with coastal winds shown on the "streaklines" map.

Quoted message said:

In summer, we usually get a high-pressure, offshore ridge along the
coastal waters, which, coupled with a more northerly Jet Stream,
usually protects us from those onslaughts, and allows a little bit
of the warmer Prevailing Westerlies to sneak through onto land. Not
this year (so far.) The Jet Stream is still dipping deeply
southward along the coast, and the Pacific Northwest always seems to
be on the wrong side of it.

What region is affected by the phenomena to which you refer? I'm
unclear on where you ride.

Quoted message said:

I've noted a great dearth of flying insects so far this
spring/summer, and I opine it's largely due to current weather.
There should be many more bees, dragonflies & butterflies about.
It's simply been too cold & wet for them to flourish.

Where are you making these observations? I haven't noticed any dearth
of insects.

Jobst Brandt

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Tom Keats said:

Quoted message said:

Coast route to Santa Cruz

http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/wind/streaklines.shtml

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I wish I had access to a similar picture for other areas to the
south and east of this frame, that gives excellent information of
the winds. One of the more important areas is th coast south of
this picture because the wind blows from NNW usually but often dies
before reaching Santa Cruz, down the coast.

Quoted message said:

Maybe that's from that semi-permanent, rotating low pressure air
mass located just off the coast, that sends cool SE winds via
Colorado into the Pacific Northwest.

I don't understand what Colorado, located two major mountain ranges
east has to do with coastal winds shown on the "streaklines" map.

I live in Vancouver, BC. Our winds come from the SE via
Colorado, and from west over the Pacific Ocean (gentle sea
breezes, but sometimes Pineapple Express, especially
during El Nino years,) and in the winter, from the arctic
north. In warmer months we also get occasional easterly
outflow winds when the sun is setting.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

In summer, we usually get a high-pressure, offshore ridge along the
coastal waters, which, coupled with a more northerly Jet Stream,
usually protects us from those onslaughts, and allows a little bit
of the warmer Prevailing Westerlies to sneak through onto land. Not
this year (so far.) The Jet Stream is still dipping deeply
southward along the coast, and the Pacific Northwest always seems to
be on the wrong side of it.

What region is affected by the phenomena to which you refer? I'm
unclear on where you ride.

Vancouver, BC. Basically, what Americans term "The Pacific Northwest."
We get the northern influence of that rotating offshore airmass to
which I referred, while you Californians get the southern influence
of it. The high pressure ridge that should exist right now develops
in the Georgia Strait, between Vancouver Island and the mainland.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've noted a great dearth of flying insects so far this
spring/summer, and I opine it's largely due to current weather.
There should be many more bees, dragonflies & butterflies about.
It's simply been too cold & wet for them to flourish.

Where are you making these observations? I haven't noticed any dearth
of insects.

You enjoy the good fortune of being on the good side of the Jet Stream,
which for much of this year has been forming a deep 'U' down the
west coast of North America. At this time of year, it normally goes
more-or-less straight across the continent (up to the Great Lakes
region,) well above the 49th parallel.

When we're on the north side of the Jet Stream, the weather is
cooler and wetter. When we're on the south side, the weather is
warmer and drier.

cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Quoted message said:

Just the same, many tourists don't realize that riding north obscures
their view of to the surf by being on the inland lane where the coast
is steepest and most beautiful. They are mostly unaware that wind
usually is in their faces traveling north into a NNW wind. The Palo
Alto - San Gregorio - Davenport - Santa Cruz - loop returning on HWY 9
and Skyline Blvd is one of my regular favorites with much of HWY 9 in
a redwood forest.

I often see heavily laden tourists pedaling in low gears northward on
the inland side of the coast highway, some with trailers.

Jobst Brandt

Or, if you would rather avoid the part of Highway 9 that gets the worst
traffic, you can do what I did yesterday. Up Old LaHonda, out to Pescadero,
Cloverdale, up Bonny Doon (but only after an excellent lunch at Whale City
Bakery in Davenport) to Empire Grade, down Jamison Creek, up China Grade and
then 9 to Skyline, then north to Sky Londa and back down 84. You still
benefit from the tailwinds on the coast. Yesterday the fog hung a mile or
two off the coast creating what looked like a very ugly sea. The part close
to land was a nice blue, while it was an very unnatural gray a bit further
out.

We bought drinks from the Golf Club in Boulder Creek before ascending China
Grade, taking note of an ambulance turning in to tend to a golfer who
apparently found it a bit too much exercise going from his motorized cart to
the tee. The regulars seem to regard it as nothing noteworthy.

Some day when I'm brave enough I'll tackle Last Chance road into Big Basin.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA