San Francisco Winds

[lyle_from_minneapolis]

Pretty wicked weather for your area, Paul. Hope you're doing okay!

[captsandwich]

Paul's aerodynamic like an olympic swimmer, shouldn't be an issue.

[jingle_jangle]

DoublePost®

[jingle_jangle]

Power at home went out around 7 am...still out as of 1:30. HUGE winds. Drove across the GG Bridge in my Miata at 20 mph, and the wind was seriously trying to lift the car and flip it. Trees and power lines down, some 18-wheelers crashed, closing the old and long Richmond-SDan Rafael bridge, which fortunately I seldom use.

I'm cozily in my workshop, sanding merrily away...

Brings to mind one of my favorite JG Ballard novels, The Wind From Nowhere, which will make you thoroughly paranoid anytime there's wind advisories.

[simer4001]

[quote="jingle_jangle"]Power at home went out around 7 am...still out as of 1:30. HUGE winds. Drove across the GG Bridge in my Miata at 20 mph, and the wind was seriously trying to lift the car and flip it. Trees and power lines down, some 18-wheelers crashed, closing the old and long Richmond-SDan Rafael bridge, which fortunately I seldom use.

My sister called to tell me a Eucalyptus tree in my backyard is now mostly in my neighbors yard. They are these worst trees in the wind. I'm coming back to SF on the 10th so I guess I will add that to my list of things to do. Fortunately no one was hurt. Big rigs , powerlines and trees are toppling here in Boise too. I can't wait to get home tonight and see if I have any trees down there. I lost 2 last year. I still have about 28 left. We'll see what is left. Too bad none of them are Eastern maple. Guess I'll be getting the wood chipper out.

[Scastles]

Spoke with friends in my old neighborhood of Quincy, in the Sierras. Winds over 50mph and a blizzard warning is in effect for the weekend. Roads around there could be nasty even without bad weather. I can't imagine. Never experienced anything quite as bad when I was living there.

[lyle_from_minneapolis]

CNN says 10 feet of snow could drop on the Sierra passes by Sunday. Unbelievable.

My two years in San Francisco were the mildest conditions I ever lived in...hard to believe it's experiencing violent weather.

Crossing that bridge must have raised the heartrate just a little. Stay safe!

[eatswodo]

Brings to mind one of my favorite JG Ballard novels, The Wind From Nowhere, which will make you thoroughly paranoid anytime there's wind advisories.

I remember that - scared the cr*p out of me at the tender age of 13. I think that book is why wind is my least favourite weather artifact.

[jingle_jangle]

Yeah, but how 'bout that Holly Hunter (of all women!) in "Crash"?

[johnallg]

Slightly windy out there:

http://www.weather.com/maps/maptype/sev ... large.html

I can't imagine 160+ mph winds...

Stay safe all!

[britye]

Paul, there was a lady oh late 80's early 90's driving her Yugo across the Mackinaw Bridge heading to the UP. Winds came through the road grates and picked her and the car up and tossed them into the Straits of Mackinaw. She was reported missing... and authorities figured out she was last seen at the bridge toll.. sent divers down and found her.. sad story. Hope your power is on by now...

[johnallg]

That had to be the mid to late 90s as I remember we covered the story and I've been at the station since June of 92.

[sharkboy]

I'm getting a complex. I went back home to the Oregon coast and we had 2.5 days of 70mph+ winds with gusts over 115mph. Then I came back down to Sonoma and this thing hit. Probably had 4 inches of rain in the past 24 hours up here on the hill. I scarcely went outside.

Under the best conditions I don't feel comfy on the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge. That must've been scary before they closed it.

[jingle_jangle]

The Richmond/SR bridge is a nasty one, even on calm days. If I had to take the upper deck--exposed to the wind and rain, 100+ feet over the bay, and only 30 feet (2 1/2 lanes) wide, on my motorcycle for some reason, I think I'd ride all the way around the bay through Vallejo, first. It's bad in an SUV...

BTW, latest word is that we could be powerless until the 12th or 13th!

[tamborineman]

That had to be the mid to late 90s as I remember we covered the story and I've been at the station since June of 92.

It was 1988. No Yugos were still operating on the roads of Michigan by the late 90's
P.S. we have been talking about that incident ever since, here in Mich. [try that 5 mile long steel thread on a motorcycle sometime]