Characteristics of Sundowner Winds Near Santa Barbara, CA, From a Dynamically Downscaled Climatology: Environment and Effects Aloft and Offshore

Abstract

We use an 11-year numerically downscaled climatology to diagnose various characteristics of downslope windstorms known as Sundowners that occur along the Central California coast. At the surface, Sundowners are manifested as strong northerly winds along the southern slopes of the east-west trending Santa Ynez Mountains that are part of a lee slope jet forced by internal gravity wave breaking aloft. Our analysis shows that barotropic shallow water interfacial waves along an elevated inversion do not play any significant part in Sundowner dynamics. The mountain wave is forced on a diurnal basis by the synoptically driven strong jet of north-northwesterly winds located just offshore, which propagates into and through the Santa Ynez Valley. The occurrence of Sundowners is associated with a transcritical transition of the barotropic shallow water mode of the marine boundary layer around the Southern California Bight. The strength and presence of the alongshore jet are of primary importance in determining upstream profiles of wind speed and static stability and thus the magnitude and location of most Sundowner events. This is especially true for the relatively common and mild Gaviota-type events that frequently occur during spring in the western part of the range. We show that in a general sense, there is no distinct eastern or Montecito type of Sundowner event but rather a continuum of Sundowners based on wind direction upstream near ridgetop height. Montecito-type events tend to occur in conjunction with internal gravity wave breaking over the upstream San Rafael range that enhances mountain wave activity near Montecito.