Unusual Windstorm Batters San Jose, CA And Much Of The West (November 30 - December 1, 2011)

Watch in high quality (480p). A powerful windstorm has battered much of California and the Southwest by the end of November 2011 and lasting into the beginning days of December 2011. Southern California experienced the brunt of this prolonged wind event. Although the winds were not as strong here in San Jose, CA than in SoCal, this was still pretty unusual for us to get windy conditions this strong.

First of all, our area (San Jose, CA) experienced a relatively calm start to Wednesday of November 30, 2011. Sunny conditions was experienced but coming early afternoon, winds started to pick up pretty fast as this dry, low pressure storm system's cold front sweeps southward through the region this afternoon. We experienced northeasterly winds around 25-40 mph with gusts possibly stronger! Trees everywhere started swaying as late afternoon came along. The strongest winds this day was felt late in the afternoon at around sunset. Then coming around midnight (Thursday, December 1, 2011), while I was on the computer in the living room, the winds started picking up again with occasional strong gusts that made a woosh sound, almost felt like the house was going to fall or something! Apparently, this was the time (around 1ish p.m.) that our area received the highest winds, in terms of gusts. Unluckily no footage of the evening hours due to limited light sources and safety precautions.

Then on the following day, Thursday of Dec. 1, 2011, the strong and gusty winds continued again. However, this was around the time as well when Southern California issued a state of emergency in the Los Angeles County due to the fierce winds. This was one fierce windstorm since there was a strong high pressure system situated up in the Northwest which is quite rare. There's also a low pressure storm system to the Southwest. Therefore resulting in a dramatic difference in pressure between the two systems, ushering these powerful winds, especially for the terrain and mountainous geography around the L.A. areas.

Around 11 a.m. here in San Jose, CA, the winds was on the increase once again, with north to northeast winds. Large eucalyptus trees and California fan palms begin bending and swaying under the gusty conditions. Luckily no branch or tree limb broke off while I was under these large trees. The strongest winds occurred between the hours of 1pm - 3pm where even power outages were possible due to strong 40+ mph wind gusts! A small tree fell sideways just in front of our Macaroni Grill by Eastridge Mall.

Then coming late afternoon, around 4 p.m., it shows a brief period of the windy conditions by the eastern foothills of Mt. Hamilton. Take note that the wind gusts are much stronger up on high terrain and on hilly/mountainous areas. One gust almost pushed me down (shown at 11:49 in the video). While inside the building of our church, The Point, you can hear the whistling/whooshing sounds of the wind.

Finally, the winds died down around sunset time. This windstorm event continues to wreak havoc to much of the Southwest as the low pressure storm system (the one responsible for all the wind) slowly drifts southeast away from our area.

This was one of the fiercest windstorms that California has experienced in years. This is also known as the "once-in-a-decade" windstorm event.

Hope you enjoy the video and stay safe out there! :)

The wind speeds/gusts from December 1, 2011 is found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiritedstormywgj9254/6438359919

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• windstorm
• wind
• outdoors
• weather
• windy
• meteorology
• air
• breezy
• gusty winds
• San Jose
• California
• dry storm system
• wind and trees
• windswept trees
• trees
• storm chasing
• strong winds
• great outdoors
• stormy

[Lightningofthegods]

i heard about the Santa Anas..I miss that! Its also a unique event. I like the offshore flow anyhow too. I remember it being 90degrees on christmas day in SD. Love it.

[54spiritedwill54]

@Lightningofthegods whoa, 90 degrees on Christmas Day? that's awesomely crazy! xD Pretty unique indeed! I also felt that the air was actually warmer during the days of the wind event than when it was calm. Very interesting :)

[DoNotCiv]

Nothing like SoCal but so weird to feel warm winds in the middle of the night in Dec!

[54spiritedwill54]

@DoNotCiv yea, these winds were offshore so the air was coming from inland, not from the ocean. I think that's why it's actually feeling "warm". Here, it did feel warmer than usual, especially for early December. Sometimes when it's windy, the temps tend to be warmer than if it was dead calm, depending on the weather factors also.

[starguard]

Thank you so much for taking the time to make this

I used to live in San Jose back in the early 90's and this video brings back so many memories. I havent been back there since, but often I wish I could return there..if only for a visit!

[xcaptivatingx]

dang I remember coming home from work this day and the wind was like pushing my car on the freeway, it was crazy scary! I also saw one of our large pine trees have fallen over onto the street near my home.

[Lightningofthegods]

@54spiritedwill54 Yeah! And yeah it is! During the Superbowl one year it was also 90..we played volleyball before it in SD when the Superbowl was in SD. yeah it is..I love that desert wind...only hope there's not too much damage..but this one was unusually strong. Glad you filmed some of it.

[Torn80cj]

It's like having a tropical storm without the clouds and rain. We get this type of whether in Oklahoma several times a year. It can be sunny like this and we'll have gusts hitting hurricane force with the really strong ones that have a tight pressure gradient.

[Sebizzar]

LoL this is funny. I love windy autumn days xD

[SJSharks120]

Evergreen community college!! Nice!