Catalina to be “wind capital” of North America tomorrow afternoon

There’s the “artichoke capital of the world” in Castroville, CA, but here in Catalina we’ll the “wind capital” of all of North America tomorrow afternoon.   Its great to be the “capital” of something, anything!  Thought you would like to know about the wind, maybe glue on your baseball cap in preparation for extreme winds tomorrow, especially later in the day just before “Joe Cold Front” arrives with his blustery blasts from the west and northwest tomorrow evening and overnight.

No rain in “Joe”, but during the following couple of days as the unusually cold air for April makes itself at home here,  we’ll probably see some Cu with ice (tops colder than -10 C, to continue a refrain here), and that could mean enough virga for a sprinkle at the ground here.  Likely some measurable snow on Ms. Lemmon during that time.

Here’s what happens as rendered by IPS MeteoStar, these cool looking wind maps for tomorrow.  Not much to begin day at dawn, then “pow” by mid-late morning:, then wind reaching a crescendo (a great word, you can feel it) during the mid and late afternoon.  Gusts likely to better 50 mph in brief puffs here in Catalinaland.

Valid at 5 AM AST. No wind here yet, mod sez.
Valid at 5 AM AST. No wind here yet, mod sez.
ann 2013040700_CON_GFS_SFC_WINDS_SLP_042
Sun ignites ground wind machine by 11 AM AST tomorrow. Dust raised to our southwest by 25-30 kt steady winds likely to invade area during late morning and early afternoon, gradually thickening. Horizontal visibility may be less than 10 miles, which is unusual for here.

 

Valid at 5 PM AST, tomorrow April 8th. Gust here in Catalina, likely to exceed 50 mph. Hang on to your hat and toupee.
Valid at 5 PM AST, tomorrow April 8th. Gust here in Catalina, likely to exceed 50 mph. Hang on to your hat and toupee, likely need a lot of hair gel if you don’t hat up.  And, park your car on the south side of tall trees.

Today’s clouds

Passing Cirrus

The End.

By Art Rangno

Retiree from a group specializing in airborne measurements of clouds and aerosols at the University of Washington (Cloud and Aerosol Research Group). The projects in which I participated were in many countries; from the Arctic to Brazil, from the Marshall Islands to South Africa.