NPWfever - 15-11-2007 at 05:59 PM
I get to school at about 7AM and there is always at least 8mph wind good enough for the 8 meter at least, but when the sun comes out the wind doesn't
increase like it usually does when it warms up. Seems counter intuitive? Any ideas as to why? Not complaining just confused.
Pablo - 15-11-2007 at 06:02 PM
You may benefit from thermal winds in your area during the warm summer months, colder time of year will usually squash the thermals pretty good.
NPWfever - 15-11-2007 at 07:08 PM
I see your reasoning, so in the winter the sun has little or no effect on wind? But why does the wind always die off and is always strong in the
mornings? Unless...In the morning 95% of the time the wind is blowing south and 95% of the time in the afternoons the wind is blowing north. Maybe our
south winds are less blocked/stonger.
Pablo - 15-11-2007 at 07:24 PM
Not sure exactly, but I'll share a bit about an area I'm familiar with.
Up in Squamish, you normally have an outflow every morning, some days it's stronger than others, but it's always flowing out. In the winter it gets
affected by weather fronts, but in the summer the thermals do something weird. Around 11:00 AM every day it's sunny, the wind will stop for a couple
minutes, get really squirley for another 10, then start flowing straight inland, a complete 180 deg turn from the morning. As it heats up the wind
settles down to it's usual speed, almost always between 20-30mph. At some point in the evening, usually before sundown it'll stop and flip the other
way again.
I think the thermals on the hills start sucking the cool water inland up the valley and up the faces of the hills. In the evening when the hills start
cooling off, they cool off quicker than the ocean water. Now the air starts moving from the cool hills to the warm ocean. I could see different hills
and geography causing the wind to shift at different parts of the day. One hill gets hotter in the morning sun, one gets baked in the late afternoon
sort of thing.