That hang glider pic looks like it might have been taken on the SF Peninsula, somewhere between Half-Moon Bay and Santa Cruz. Moist air from the Pacific gets forced up the coastal ranges by the NW trade winds, squeezing out the moisture as it rises, forming a cloud/fog "street" (my wife used to call them "fagbonks") on the windward side of the range. This is why that area is temperate rainforest, even though it gets fairly little rain. On the lee side of the ridge, the now dry air rushing down cannot water the dry scrub and chapparal on the eastern side of the hills. Sometimes, when the wind is really strong and moist, an observer in the Santa Clara Valley can see the fog break over the top of the ridge and pour down, like a wave bursting over a breakwater in slow motion.
The glider pilot has obviously taken advantage of the updraft formed by the ridge to gain altitude, he must have launched his craft from a much lower elevation.
Damn! I really miss that part of the world.
microclimates
The whole thread (30 posts)
- Chemtrail Video from the Air
- Public Service Announcement
- Far too many planes in the sky! (n/t)
- Give Ma Nature some credit, would you?
- Sure. Watch me.