LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The powerful windstorm that hit Lake County last week was the result of the meeting of two weather systems, according to a weather forecaster.
The storm, which occurred Nov. 21 and 22, left in its wake widespread damage along the Northshore, particularly in the community of Nice, as well as the city of Clearlake.
Northshore Fire Protection District Chief Jay Beristianos called the storm an “unprecedented” event, and nothing like he's seen in the more than 40 years he has lived in Lake County.
He said he also has spoken to older residents who have lived their whole lives here, and they also couldn't recall a windstorm quite like it.
So, what exactly happened?
Johnnie Powell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Sacramento office, told Lake County News that it was the convergence of two pressure systems that led to the storm.
“This was a unique thing that happened here,” he said.
Preceding the windstorm, the county had experienced a few days of rain, which Powell said was the result of a low pressure system moving over the region.
As that low pressure system was moving out, a high pressure system came in at an unusual tilt, Powell said. Then the low pressure system stalled.
He said the lower pressure system was moving in a counter clockwise direction, while the high pressure system was moving clockwise.
Where the two systems met, very strong winds resulted, Powell said.
Lake County, he said, was “right in the bulls eye.”
The Sierras and Lake County both had strong north winds because of the two systems meeting, with the Sacramento Valley mostly protected, Powell said.
Powell said Lake County experienced sustained winds averaging around 40 miles per hour, with the highest gust reported to be 78 miles per hour in the Cow Mountain area near Lakeport.
Those winds on Cow Mountain knocked down numerous trees, with some trees also down at the campground at the Cow Mountain Recreation Area, according to Jeff Tunnell of the Bureau of Land Management. He said they haven't yet begun to survey the damage on the recreation's trails.
Elsewhere around the county, wind speeds were recorded at 40 miles per hour on Mt. Konocti and 61 miles per hour in Hidden Valley Lake, Powell said.
At Wilbur Springs, on the Lake and Colusa County lines, winds were clocked at 62 miles per hour, according to Powell.
Powell said there isn't any serious wind activity forecast to take place again in the county anytime soon.
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