Howling winds are sweeping across the San Francisco Bay Area this month, and some of the recent storm systems moving through the region are to blame.
It’s a typical pattern meteorologists see as the weather transitions into vernal conditions, said Brayden Murdock, a weather forecaster for the Bay Area office of the National Weather Service. The lows that contributed to some of the storms earlier this year have moved inland and east and are now over the Sierra Nevada, causing gusts to develop in their wake.
“The wind goes clockwise around these things,” Murdock said. “We get that windier part of that edge of the system and with it a lot of northerly squalls offshore. That’s why we don’t see a lot of rain, but a lot of wind.”
Maximum wind gusts hit 65 mph in Cupertino and 52 mph in San Francisco — the highest wind speeds recorded in the Bay Area on Tuesday. A wind warning is in effect for the North Bay coast until 9pm on Wednesday due to northwesterly winds of 20 to 30mph and gusts of up to 50mph at higher elevations.
— NWSBayArea Twitter
Gale force winds could become “quite dangerous” for small to medium-sized boats at sea, Murdock said, and even if the warning ends, gusty conditions are likely to continue into Thursday.
“If you think you’re going to get a break tomorrow, you’re going to be disappointed,” Murdock said. “A lot of people don’t realize that sand could be blown across the roads, so don’t be surprised if you see traffic slowing down on coastal highways.”
Other dangerous impacts include fallen trees and power lines, which can cause some outages. High-profile vehicles like RVs and articulated lorries may have trouble driving, and people are being urged to secure loose items like patio furniture and outdoor bins until conditions improve by the weekend. More wind events are expected in the coming weeks, but are likely to become less frequent in May and June as the lows move further north.
That being said, “it’s a long winter season,” Murdock said. “The sea will be quite dangerous over the next few days as we see waves coming in. Sailors and boaters should be concerned.”
