wind question

[jim]

Seems lately we are in a weather pattern of se in the morning followed by a shift to stronger nw in the afternoon until sunset. What changes as the summer rolls in to stop this seemingly pretty reliable wind?
Does it have something to do with thunderstorm development because it seems that when we get t storms is about when the wind stops??
Anyone know why??

Originally Posted by jim

What changes as the summer rolls in to stop this seemingly pretty reliable wind?

You pretty much nailed it in your guess. Here are some more guesses.
Rain is one thing, it cools off the land. Also, the difference in temp. between the Gulf and the land is slowly becoming less and less. Right now the Gulf is 78. Last summer the Gulf hit 91 degrees at one point. Insane.

So in the summer, there is little difference b/n the land and the water temps. The seabreeze engine thrives off of temperature difference. The less there is, the less it thrives.

Lastly, the position of the high pressure begins to move more east off the other coast (Bermuda high). In a nutshell, St. Pete sucks for wind starting in about 3 weeks. It was awesome today though!

It will soon be time to start focusing on something other than kiting while in St. Pete (unless you really like torturing yourself praying for something that rarely happens).
Makes me feel sorry for anyone taking lessons right now. They are just going to jones for a few months around here. I know a lot of guys travel out of town during the summer.

[jim]

too bad we dont get the trades like many of the islands do-summer seems to be their season.

[TampaBay Noob]

Yeah the gulf turns into bathwater over the summer. Not very inviting. :/ I've already got my summer kite trip planned. Two weeks at Lake Mille Lacs, MN....warm weather and plenty of wind everyday. The lake is 14x18 miles, the second biggest lake in the land of 10k lakes!! I guess kiting is starting to pick up around there. They have recently had their first organized snowkite race across the lake and, although that's winter-time, summer winds are supposed to kick pretty good there.

[BigR]

summer winds are supposed to kick pretty good there.

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think so. Went to school there for five years, There is no wind during the summertime. Lakes are great for jetskiing and wakeboarding tho'. The Windy season there is Spring and Fall.

Actually the water itself doesn't even really get warm, over 60, till well into July and August. time lag thing I guess.

Yeah but you forgot to factor in global warming. No worries... it'll nuke.

[TampaBay Noob]

My whole family is either from/or still lives in MN. My uncle has had a cabin on lake mille lacs for as long as I've been around. Summer is huge up there for windsurfing and over the summer, if I'm not mistaken, they get a lot of southerlies. My uncle is learning to windsurf right now and said late summer is good for wind. Either way if it's big for windsurfing, kiting is doable. DON"T RAIN ON MY PARADE! I'm going damnit, worse case scenario is I go fish for some walleye or pike. Moral of the story, Lake Mille Lacs get wind in august.

[BigR]

They do, it is a very consistent 8-12 Mph in summer, take your biggest kite + board.

There are a zillion windsurfers up on the lakes you're right, but they are on BIG boards. The types that float real well and drift along at an amazing 4-5 kts.
Actually september is when it starts to get windy again, you might catch the beginning of the season.

Oh yeah , catch some Walleye for me. That is some dang tasty fish. Thats about what I used to do all summer long, catch trout and walleye!

P.S. Oh , and WATCH OUT for the Mayflies!!! Last week of August seems to be when they all decide to hatch , All At Once! Which creates a cloud soo thick of bugs you can't see 100 yards, . but alls well , cause they are gone in 1 week after that

[robertovillate]

Originally Posted by BigR

P.S. Oh , and WATCH OUT for the Mayflies!!! Last week of August seems to be when they all decide to hatch , All At Once! Which creates a cloud soo thick of bugs you can't see 100 yards, . but alls well , cause they are gone in 1 week after that

Big R: why don't they call them August flies then??? did you ever see a Cicadae cycle hatch? now that's a bizarre phenomenon, sci-fi stuff.


TBNoob...be careful on the inland lakes, usually gusty, crowded, tree-lined shore...try to get to the Great Lakes beaches...we can have some awesome riding there during the summer...and waves

...just watch the forecasts

...BRING ALL YOUR RUBBER, even in the summer the big lake water can be 50F

[BigR]

I agree, the great lakes get way more thermals during the summer than the inland lakes. A temperature differential thing I guess.

Anyways, here are your monthly wind stats from 2003-2007 for the twin cities area. pretty much guaranteed 2-3 Bft.

http://www.windguru.com/int/historie...no=1&model=gfs


The NAM 12 KM model seems to be a bit more hopefull than the GFS/NWW3 model

http://www.windguru.com/int/historie...ble=0&gl_csv=0

Roberto, I try to stay away from the sci-fi channel. I just don't have the patience to watch aliens hatch