San Francisco's fickle summer weather has earned it the nickname "Fog City." Science on the SPOT asks UC Berkeley's Todd Dawson to clear up the mysterious origins of this weather phenomenon, and share his research on how fog is integral to our state's ecology.
Hello People Moving To San Francisco!
Please stop complaining about the wind and fog. If you don't like it here, you can always live in Walnut Creek, Livermore or San Jose. (You'll pleasantly bake at a mere 100 degrees during the summer.)
Fog Again!
The Alaskan current brings down the cold water, the marine layer encounters the colder waters from Alaska, it cools to its dewpoint, and hello fog. Add to the mix a difference in pressure, a hot Central Valley, the prevailing winds, a funnel called the Golden Gate, and before you can say "Bob's your Uncle," Mr. Fog shows up.
What Happens When The Jet Stream Dips South?
Wednesday Weather Website. "Forecast.io!"
Wow!
I think it's visually stunning, especially when you load the animation. Of course, I went to Architecture school, and if you haven't guessed by the orientation of this blog, am a visually oriented person.
Take a look.
Meanwhile In Tiverton.
The Tillerman celebrates the arrival of Spring. Eh Brah, look at all dat shave ice!
Photos: Sail In Finland.
Ah-oh!
Something big this way comes!
From gCaptain:
A major hurricane force storm continues over the western North Pacific with winds up to 65 knots and significant wave heights up to 20 meters (about 66 feet)! The significant wave height is the average of the 1/3 highest waves which means that some waves will be higher. Given a significant wave of 20 meters, about 1 in 10 waves could be 25 meters (82 feet) and 1 out of 100 could be as high as 33 meters (108 feet)!
I say Chadwick, things could get a little bumpy.
Meanwhile Back On The Bay.
The storm has been a bust...so far...let's hope the news station anchors will be glum and not have the desired destruction that they so clearly were hoping for, it was interesting to watch their reporters positioned around the bay, they could hardly contain their glee at the possible devastation. Sorry guys, there won't be a Sandy type event.
Blow!
"An invisible, ancient source of energy surrounds us—energy that powered the first explorations of the world, and that may be a key to the future."
Click on the map above to see as close to real-time patterns of wind flowing over the US. "Surface wind data comes from the National Digital Forecast Database. These are near-term forecasts, updated once per hour."
Typhoon Tuesday. "The Philippines Get's Hammered!"
Back In The Fog!
Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Hawaii any more.
San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge obscured by fog
This photo was taken on December 24, 2007 using a Nikon D80 by Letsemgo.
What Do You Think, Should We Stay Out Of The Water?
Wednesday Wipeout. "Yeti Eats East Coast."
That's one big snow-cone!
As a giant snowstorm plowed across the U.S. this week, the GOES-13 weather satellite drifted 22,000 miles overhead, capturing all the snowy chaos in a single dramatic frame. The resulting image, pictured above, reveals just how big the storm became.
Where's my bottle of bourbon?
I Wonder How They're Doing Back East?
I'm pretty sure I'd be sucking on a bottle of bourbon if I lived back there.
Baby, It's Cold Outside.
I need to get out of Dodge and high tail it over to a place where I won't suffer from frost bite on my hands when I go down to the beach. I was at Crissy yesterday contemplating a paddle, that lasted about a second as the cold Arctic breeze kissed my face. Yes, I know, some would say I'm a wimp. But let's face it folks, humans evolved in the tropics. (If you're a creationist, please don't email me.) We like warm weather, cold is not good for our bodies. Just walk around outside in the nude without a bottle of scotch in the middle of a "temperate" winter. Speaking of scotch, I've got to go. Baby, it's cold outside.
Light House Becomes A Popsicle.
Before, during the summer.
Now, after a freezing temperatures and big waves on Lake Erie crashed over a Cleveland lighthouse. Do you think it's vanilla flavored?
Uncle Al, how about some of that warming you're always going on about?
Yikes!
Oh No, More Fog!
Help me, I'm trapped under a layer of fog and I can't get out!
Ditto what Mark Twain (never) said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."
Meanwhile, up at the lake.
I could swim and paddle without a thought of being cold.
Insearch Of Summer.
It's not in San Francisco.
How many more weeks are we going to be engulfed by dreary fog and overcast skies? Don't get me wrong, we've always had fog in the Bay Area, but in the past (since I was knee high to a grasshopper) it would always burn off in the early morning and roll back in during the late afternoon. Now, it's non-stop gloominess.
Maybe, I should just pack it in and move back to Hawaii.
I could actually swim and surf in the ocean without a wetsuit.
Where's Summer?
I can guarantee you won't see a scene like this at the beach in San Francisco. How long can the cold overcast weather last? While the rest of the world bakes, we freeze. My tomatoes are very unhappy.
