East Wind Events: Windy Up "There", Not-So-Windy Down "Here"
Gusty Ridges, Calm Valleys. We have gotten a lot of questions lately about why it's so windy up in the mountains and why there are no winds down in the valleys, so we figured we would write up a quick blog post about it. Let's talk observations...these are just a spattering of observations from an event we had this week (Dec 6-8, 2020). Notice the big difference between the ridges and the valley locations. Let's not get stuck on the actual numbers at the ridges, since some of those sensors can get a little 'off' once wind speeds really pick up, the more important thing to note is the large differences in the wind gusts from ridges to foothills to valleys. (note obviously Peavine was having a bit of trouble too) We want to dig into how this occurs and why it happens! So if you're brave and ready for some science, then continue onward. General Weather Setup It is a well known set up and similar to previous events, but the magnitude of the event this week