The Weather and the Wind

Most of our days in the past 2 weeks have been in the higher 70’s and 80’s. A few days in each of the two weeks have been in the 60’s. Consistently, the sky is blue with almost no clouds and we have had no rain. What is remarkable is the wind – apparently a winter phenomenon with almost no wind to report in the summer months.

The winds come mostly from the Gulf (from the SSE) and this makes the days warm. When they come from the interior of Mexico and Texas (NNW), they make the temp drop. But no matter which direction they come, they average 15-20 mph. There are strong gusts in the afternoon running the speed up to 30-35 mph. We had not had our awning out yet. Here's a pic I took yesterday aft - check out the palm trees:



You know how the Weather Channel depicts an increasing number of rain droplets for the amount of rain you can expect, or how they depict the sun with a few clouds. Well, for SPI, there is only the word WINDY in block letters. And windy it is, believe me. A walk on the beach is sure to offer a fine coating of salt. We have already had the bus professionally washed.

On Tuesday night this week, we had a beautiful evening after dinner and headed to bed with the temp at 71 degrees. Surprisingly, the winds were low and a number of us commented on that. But by 10:30 pm, we could hear the winds picking up and, by midnight, were feeling the strength of the gusts. For me, it was like being in our boat at a dock during a storm - when when the lines jerk the boat back to the dock with each wave. For Johnnie, it was like trying to sleep on a moving train. And, when we got up in the morning, the temp was 40 degrees! And even on that day, the kite-surfers were out on the Gulf! There is always something for everyone!

However, this captain was not so lucky when his engine failed out on the Gulf and his vessel landed on the jetty at Boca Cica Beach. The stern is (almost) separate from the hull and lies on the other side of the jetty. This only happened 2 weeks ago Friday - a sad day for that captain, I'm sure.