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SIERRA VISTA — Frances Melendez didn’t need the National Weather Service to tell her it was windy on Monday.
“It almost knocked me off my feet,” said the veteran driver for FedEx. She was beginning her deliveries in one of the company’s large trucks and was on the road about 9:30 a.m.
That was 90 minutes before the NWS in Tucson officially issued a wind advisory for Cochise and Santa Cruz counties that was to stay in effect until 7 p.m.
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“Oh, you feel it,” Melendez said, looking inside the large, rolling storage area that is her workspace. “It’s worse when the truck’s not full. Then you just have this big empty box in the wind.”
Sierra Vista’s empty bike paths, gritty eyeballs, and attacking tumbleweeds were early testimony to a weather pattern that may not yet be over.
According to the NWS’ alert on Monday, “A Pacific storm system across southern California will continue to track east into southern Arizona ... sustained winds ahead of this system of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 45 mph can be expected ... The strongest gusts will especially be possible near any showers or thunderstorms that develop ... Winds this strong can make driving difficult ... especially for high-profile vehicles.”
Mark Swift of Hereford already knew that.
He had just driven his 32-foot motor home, which was pulling a 25-foot trailer, from Yuma.
“It was very entertaining ... and challenging,” said Swift, who had left at 8 a.m. and drove the entire way himself. “We fought winds most of the way. This is the last stop,” he added with relief as he properly disposed of the “gray water” at the Gas City station on Buffalo Soldier Trail. “We’re almost home.”
According to the Automated Surface Observing System at Libby Air Field on Fort Huachuca, the wind speeds and gusts began to rise quickly around 9:15 a.m. By 9:55, the system was reporting winds from the SSW at 36 mph and gusts reaching 44 mph.
Well before then, ACE Hardware’s Robin Traveny had closed the outdoor nursery area where plants and signs were blowing over — and over, and over. “We didn’t want customers to get hit. And we didn’t want to get hit either,” said the nursery’s assistant manager. “The plants get hurt when they fall, so we just left everything tipped over.”
Although the nursery re-opened shortly after 1 p.m., no chances were taken with the prospect of a flying ficus — or potted Japanese Privets — which, on their sides, made for an attractive, unintentional ground cover. Store manager Mary Burkholder said, “We won’t stand everything back up until tomorrow.”
In the meantime, the windchimes were advertising themselves.
At Wal-Mart, “about five of our refurbished bikes for sale flopped over,” said Jim Sorrells, store manager. “Most of our outdoor inventory hasn’t arrived yet. What we’ve got, though, is a lot of trash blowing everywhere, so we have to get out there and keep it picked up. It looks bad.”
In Coronado Crossing, a two-man crew nailed shingles on a shed behind a new home.
“Ya gotta do what ya gotta do,” one yellled down from the roof. He admitted that earlier in the day, “Yeah, we stopped for a little while.”
A person who answered the phone at Kugel Air Flight Service at the Sierra Vista Airport and identified himself as Captain Ron, said that the winds would only affect “the Sunday boys” with very light airplanes. “High winds can potentially interfere with flights if the crosswind across the runway exceeds the design limit of the aircraft. If the wind is lined up with the runway, it shouldn’t interfere with commercial flying. The heavier and bigger the plane, the less susceptible it is.”
Monday’s weather didn’t interfere with the LifeNet helicopter that serves the Sierra Vista Regional Health Center. Before the rain started around 5 p.m., the three-person crew had already made two runs, the last one to Tucson Medical Center.
“It’s windy today,” deadpanned pilot Jim Burke.
“Lightning, rain and visibility can be a bigger problem for us,” said flight paramedic Mike LaBrecque.
“It was rougher than usual,” said flight nurse Todd Heininger, “But our attitude is, we’re goin’ no matter what.”
According to Steve Bieda, a meteorologist who is retired from working at Fort Huachuca, the winds are not unusual at this time of year. Bieda confirmed the NWS advisory that the winds are the result of a storm system to the west.
“When the storm comes in, we get a band of strong winds topside,” said Bieda. “When they hit the mountains, we get what they call ‘mountain waves.’ ”
Bieda explained that the orientation of the Huachucas — from southeast-to-northwest — puts the winds from southwest that travel ahead of the low perpendicular to the mountains.
“As the winds rise up over the mountains, drop down to the backside, it creates a wave action that just sits there. You can tell when it’s around by the lens-shaped clouds,” he said.
What happens then is a first wave of downslope winds, which, as they funnel through the canyons, become even more accelerated.
“When they come out they blast into the valley,” Bieda said. “The people who live in Ramsey, Carr and Miller Canyons, and in the Hereford, Nicksville areas can get some real blasts.”
Bieda’s theory was confirmed, when between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Monday, a weather station located near Hereford Road and Highway 92 reported wind speeds above 30 mph, with gusts nearing 60 mph, the highest recorded in the area.
Today’s forecast from the National Weather Service calls for winds from the SSE from 5 to 11 mph, and a 20 percent chance of showers. But keep an eye on that Pacific storm, advised Bieda, adding, “It’s local forecasting. We had a mini-blizzard in April ’99.”
Herald/Review reporter Cindy Skalsky can be reached at 515-4611 or by e-mail at cindy.skalsky@svherald.com.
Joe Hicks wrote on Oct 8, 2007 2:22 PM: