Major Santa Ana winds to come to southern California

[weatherlover427]

CAZ042-091130-
ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS-
230 PM PST SUN FEB 8 2004

...HIGH WIND WATCH FROM 900 PM MONDAY THROUGH 200 PM THURSDAY...

.TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 40 TO 47. LIGHT WINDS...BECOMING NORTHEAST 15 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT.
.MONDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 63 TO 69. NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 MPH.
.MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS 42 TO 47. NORTH WINDS AROUND 15 MPH...BECOMING NORTHEAST 20 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 60 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT...MAINLY BELOW CANYONS AND PASSES.
.TUESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST. HIGHS 67 TO 72. NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 60 MPH...MAINLY BELOW CANYONS AND PASSES.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST. LOWS 43 TO 48. NORTHEAST WINDS AROUND 15 MPH INCREASING TO 20 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 60 MPH...MANLY BELOW CANYONS AND PASSES.
.WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. WINDY. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST. HIGHS 68 TO 73.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. WINDY. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST. LOWS 44 TO 49.
.THURSDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. WINDY. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST IN THE MORNING. HIGHS 65 TO 70.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 42 TO 47.
.FRIDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 67 TO 72.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 43 TO 48.
.SATURDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 73 TO 78.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 45 TO 50.
.SUNDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 72 TO 77.

You think that's windy?? Try this on for speed...

CAZ057-091130-
SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS-
230 PM PST SUN FEB 8 2004

...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH 900 PM MONDAY...
...HIGH WIND WATCH FROM 900 PM MONDAY THROUGH 200 PM THURSDAY...

.TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 34 TO 39. NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH.
.MONDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 59 TO 64. NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH.
.MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. AREAS OF BLOWING SAND AND DUST AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS 36 TO 42. NORTHEAST WINDS AROUND 15 MPH INCREASING TO 30 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 75 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT.
.TUESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST AND SAND. HIGHS 62 TO 68. NORTHEAST WINDS 25 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 75 MPH.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. AREAS OF BLOWING SAND AND DUST. LOWS 38 TO 43. NORTHEAST WINDS 25 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 75 MPH.
.WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. WINDY. AREAS OF BLOWING SAND AND DUST. HIGHS 63 TO 69.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. WINDY. AREAS OF BLOWING SAND AND DUST. LOWS 38 TO 43.
.THURSDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. WINDY. AREAS OF BLOWING AND DUST IN THE MORNING. HIGHS 60 TO 66.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. BREEZY. LOWS 36 TO 41.
.FRIDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. BREEZY. HIGHS 62 TO 68.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 38 TO 43.
.SATURDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 70 TO 76.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 40 TO 45.
.SUNDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 69 TO 75.

HURRICANE FORCE WIND GUSTS?! That will cause some major damage!!

[Aslkahuna]

can hit into the 80's and 90's for wind speed but for all that they are not the most intense downslope winds in the Country. Boulder CO routinely sees wind gusts over 100 mph when the Chinooks come off the Rockies, the Wasatch Canyon winds have hit over 100 mph and I have measured 89 mph in the Huachuca Canyon winds here at the house.

Steve

[weatherlover427]

I've heard of those - don't they gust +110-115 MPH at times? :-?

[ColdFront77]

What a lengthy High Wind Watch... 65 hours (0.386 of a week)!

[Aslkahuna]

hit gusts in the 120-130+ mph range in the more extreme events. Hill AFB Near Ogden below Weber (pronounced WEE-Bur) Canyon has hit just below 100kt (115mph) in Canyon Winds. Reno also gets some healthy winds off the Sierra during storms.

Steve

[weatherlover427]

Some parts of tonight's AFD out of the San Diego office really concern me...

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO
830 PM PST MON FEB 9 2004

.SYNOPSIS...SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL INCREASE OVER THE GREAT BASIN AND STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS ALOFT WILL COMBINE TO CAUSE STRONG GUSTY WINDS OVER MOST OF FAR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TONIGHT. WINDS WILL INCREASE TONIGHT WITH VERY STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS AT TIMES THROUGH THURSDAY. THE OFFSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH BREEZY CONDITIONS AT TIMES AND POSSIBLY STRONGER. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL INCREASE OVER THE AREA WITH VERY WARM TEMPERATURE BY THE END OF THIS WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES.

EVERYTHING IN PLACE FOR A STRONG BLOW TONIGHT THROUGH AT LEAST WED MORNING. DECENT EXTENSION OF DOWNWARD VERTICAL VELOCITY BULLS EYE OVER SOCAL TUE MORNING. ALONG WITH GOOD COLD ADVECTION AT MID LEVELS...STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS ALOFT AND STRONG OFFSHORE SURFACE GRADIENTS. STRONG WINDS SHOULD BE RATHER WIDESPREAD BY TUE MORNING. COULD SEE GUSTS NEAR 100 MPH BELOW CAJON PASS. WITH ALL THE DEAD TREES AND BRUSH IN THE BURN AREAS...COULD BE A LOT OF DEBRIS IN THE AIR AND ON THE GROUND ALONG WITH SOME TREES BEING BLOWN OVER. TROUGH HANGS OVER SOCAL WITH UPPER LEVEL 556 LOW TUE MORNING. LOW AND TROUGH DROP OUT OF SOCAL TUE WITH HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT INCREASING THRU WED. ANOTHER TROUGH COMES IN THE BACK DOOR AND DROPS HEIGHTS AND THICKNESS A BIT THU...WHICH BRINGS MORE COLD AIR INTO THE GREAT BASIN AND REINFORCES THE SURFACE HIGH. APPEARS THERE COULD BE TWO STRONG WIND EPISODES. THE FIRST...TONIGHT THROUGH WED MORNING. AVN SHOWS WINDS DROPPING WAY OFF BY WED AFTERNOON AS WINDS ALOFT SHIFT DIRECTION AND SPEEDS DROP OFF. ALSO THE SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE DECREASES TO VERY WEAK WITH AN ONSHORE FLOW DEVELOPING WED AFTERNOON. SURFACE HIGH TO THE NORTHEAST INCREASES THURSDAY MORNING FOR INCREASING OFFSHORE WINDS AGAIN AND BY THU NIGHT WINDS FORECAST TO BE STRONG AGAIN THRU FRIDAY MORNING AS TROUGH BACKS OVER SOCAL WITH INCREASING NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS ALOFT. WINDS FORECAST TO DECREASE FRIDAY AFTERNOON. BUT...BREEZY OR BETTER NORTHEAST WINDS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK AS A SERIES OF SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEMS MOVE INTO GREAT BASIN. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT INCREASES OVER SOCAL FRIDAY AND SATURDAY FOR VERY WARM TEMPERATURES. THE HIGH IS FORECAST TO REMAIN ABOUT THE SAME EARLY NEXT WEEK.

That's gonna create one MEGA fire danger, and if we have 100MPH gusts; that's gonna create some MEGA damage... :o

[PTrackerLA]

I was on ski trip over new years in Utah and one day they recorded a gust over 120mph at the top of the mountain...needless to say they had to close all the lifts. Utah has got to be one of the windiest places in the west.

[Aslkahuna]

You want to go as the Aleutians in Alaska as well as the Panhandle of AK
get some pretty healthy winds. Have to realize that the mountain tops in the Western US go up to above the 700 mb level so they can always get healthy winds during winter storms. Down in the Valleys of UT it's generally nowhere near as windy except in strong situations. The Lee of the Sierra gets some pretty healthy winds as well.

Steve

[ColdFront77]

The 700 millibar level is 9,880 feet.

[FLguy]

You want to go as the Aleutians in Alaska as well as the Panhandle of AK
get some pretty healthy winds. Have to realize that the mountain tops in the Western US go up to above the 700 mb level so they can always get healthy winds during winter storms. Down in the Valleys of UT it's generally nowhere near as windy except in strong situations. The Lee of the Sierra gets some pretty healthy winds as well.

Steve

or when winds associated with a decent mid level jet are transported down to the surface in convection.

[Aslkahuna]

take that with the convection around here during our monsoon when the storms come off the Rim and hit that air with a TT/TdTd of 110/70. PHX has seen winds over 100mph in that kind of situation while Gila Bend hit 105kt in August 1996 (I chased that storm into Tucson where I saw a tornado but was unable to go beyond TUS because of road construction).

Steve