Look at the sensors?!

[Pablito]

Okay, so here's the 11:30 from Ikite:

Now at 11:30 AM the forecast is on track for the North Pacific High's strong NW winds continue along the coast and Crissy southward. To our north a ridge from the North Pacific High is poised to move inland producing NNE flow aloft but I think this will not cause problems today. This makes Bodega and Tomales winds fairly safe from disruption.

Does anyone think this is really going to happen? There's no wind reaching land right now -- how likely is it that it will pull through.

Seems like the NNE high must have pushed in sooner than they thought. NWS Sacto is still calling for SW winds today, but it's already blowing lightly from the north at my house.

Any thoughts?

[Bob]

Short burst of wind in the afternoon in the gaps and that's it.

[charlie]

if the nph moves in, we win ...not over us to the north...
just closer to the coast..
seems things are stalled out?
the slot has some wind (crisst to pt isabell) that i think is just the bay take n a breth.looks like the slot ?
i see the rain n stuff to the north may be the culpirt?
and i think later is better.

[panzerfaust]

just drove past pt emery and it is starting to fill in

[Pablito]

Looks like Berkeley was good all afternoon. I headed to Bodega and got plenty of wind on the Harbor side all afternoon -- up and down and gusty, but butter flat water inside and outside the waves. By the time I left, it was capping in the Bay and the windsurfers were ripping it up.

I was the only kiter there. What's up with that? It's not like there was tons of wind everywhere else.

BTW, if you're scared to try kiting in the waves, Bodega is easier to get to than Stinson and the waves aren't scary (at least they weren't today).
I'm sure Mr. Z. would have been bored to tears, but they kept me entertained all day long. The beach is big and was less crowded than the times I've been to Stinson. Oh yeah, and no hanggliders.

[zgur]

From a very reliable source: The wind was very good in the south coast all weekend. Nice waves as well - a beautiful south swell.

[charlie]

good for you paul
i was gonna go up to Bodega
but when i went bye berkely it was up! so i ....
next time
i used to ploe surf at bodega so i want to kite it too!
lots of differnt water there.
o berkely was up and down for my 12m

[Pablito]

Many options to choose from once you get there. I just wonder why there were no kiters out?

[JasonM]

3rd looks windy, but offshore. anyone out there yet?

[windhorny]

Another response from the ikitesurf guys regarding the Alameda sensor.


Dear iWK Alameda user,

I am the one that reinstalled our sensor at Alameda and I have a lot of prior experience with this exact situation. I will let you know right off the bat that the bottom-line is: the current reading is correct.

May seem a little blunt, but hear me out here. I am saying the sensor head IS spinning at 'x' mph AT that point in space which is roughly 20ft up on a building which is 2 stories high and roughly 1/4 mile or more away from where you are trying to use the wind.

The reason the reading increased in March is merely due to a gear swap from "crap" to "21st century". I could go into a number of details here but I am guessing the main culprit is grit which worked its way into the bearing races which were exposed on the "crap" equipment. Over the years, 'x' amount of wind gradually felt like 'y' and then 'z'.

So the problem is not an easy one to fix. You don't want us altering the numbers coming from our sensor do you? For example, the correction factor of say -10% across the board wouldn't take into account the fact that the change is NOT linear. It also wouldn't handle the fact that from the NW the correction factor at 20mph is -15% but from the SW it's -25% (purely for example).

This isn't a new situation to us as we've encountered it all over CA and The Gorge. I did a bunch of OR / WA sensor conversions at once and you should have heard the uproar. You would have thought we'd kidnapped a bus full of schoolchildren for all the public outcry we heard from that upgrade. But now, several years later - not a peep.

That's because our readings are consistent. Stick with it, the new readings WILL make sense with time.

Regards,
- Stuart