If you’re not already aware of Cliff Mass’s Weather Blog, then take a moment right now to check it out. Especially today’s post, “Ferry Weather”, of particular relevance to Puget Sound mariners:
If you ever do any boating…or just interested in weather over the water…few web sites are more educational than the Ferry Weather web site (http://i90.atmos.washington.edu/ferry/Ferryjs/mainframe1.htm). Many of the Washington State ferries have weather sensors on them and send the information back to WSDOT and the University of Washington in real-time. At the UW we plot the winds and temperatures on this web site…and add nearby land observations to complete the picture. As you see by the second image…one thing is clear…winds are generally stronger over the water than over the land…often by 50-200%!! Why is that?
