CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Whether you are new to the area or you've lived here for decades, you probably have picked up on some of our weather staples: Heat, humidity, and WIND. Springtime tends to yield some windy days of weather in Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend. Wind gusts topping out over 40 mph is fairly common this time of year. But why?
Statistically, April is the windiest month of the year in Corpus Christi with an average wind speed just over 14 mph. That wind is generally coming in from the Southeast, unless a cold front has just moved through. Side note, while I was gathering the monthly wind stats for Corpus Christi, I decided to look at Chicago too, since they are the 'windy city' after all, right? Well, it turns out Corpus Christi has higher average wind speeds throughout the year. That's not the point of this article, though.
So, Spring is a season that we see severe weather and tornado activity ramp up in the Plains states (tornado alley). This happens as disturbances come off the Rocky Mountains, low pressure develops at the surface, and the cool dry air coming off the Rockies clashes with warm and humid air moving into the Plains from the south.
Meantime in South Texas, we very often see regions of high pressure parked to our east, somewhere in the Northern Gulf of Mexico or Southeastern US. For the Coastal Bend, high pressure in this part of the country places the Coastal Bend in a position to receive wind from the south or southeast because air rotates around high pressure in a clockwise motion.
Back to the low pressure systems in the Plains, as they start to strengthen on their journey east, away from the Rockies, the difference in pressure between the lows in the Plains and the highs to the east of the Coastal Bend is what generates the winds. We call that a 'tight pressure gradient' in the meteorological world.
People will often ask me, 'Why is it so windy all the time here?' The set up laid out above is one of the reasons. A good 'tell' on when it's going to be windy as it relates to the scenario I've laid out is whether or not severe weather is expected to our north. When there is a risk for severe weather north of the Coastal Bend and into the Plains, it's a good bet that the day or two leading up to that severe risk will become noticeably more windy.
For example, today/tonight (April 15/16), there is a risk for severe thunderstorms in the Plains, extending south, into Northern Texas. And guess what? It was windy in Corpus Christi today. We observed southeasterly gusts of up to 40 mph today. Those winds have also elevated humidity levels locally and the moisture they carry north will help feed the thunderstorms expected there.
Strong southeast winds are part of life in South Texas during the Springtime. They're not that great for my golf game, but the thunderstorms they feed love them and the humidity that they bring.
Holt out.
Wind forecast for the rest of the week:
