Gap Winds in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Abstract

Abstract Gap winds can be defined as a flow of air in a sea level channel which accelerates under the influence of a pressure gradient parallel to the axis of the channel. In February 1980 two distinct cases of gap winds were observed in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between western Washington State and British Columbia during a study that measured spatial variation of low-level marine winds and other parameters from the NOAA P-3 research aircraft and a dense network of surface stations which included eight meteorological buoys. These two cases were a high-pressure region over central British Columbia and a low-pressure system propagating northward, seaward of the Washington coast. Both cases produced strong easterly winds of 13–15 m s−1 at the western end of the Strait of Juan de Fuea. The high-pressure region provided a drainage air mass from the interior of British Columbia which flowed through the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca and eventually into the Pacific Ocean. This air mass remained nearly hom...