¡Buenos dias! The crazy gusty winds yesterday peaked at 34 mph at the campground…the highest so far this season. Satellite-derived winds of 30 knots were widespread over the southern Sea of Cortez around midnight, with a few 35 knot readings north of Cerralvo. Model forecasts show the norte easing today, and with some mid-level clouds now forecast to creep into the area, it looks like our local winds will be much tamer than yesterday. The strong surface high centered over the 4-corners area of the U.S. this morning is forecast to weaken rapidly this evening and be replaced by low pressure on Thursday, with light winds the result here. Weak north flow will begin to return on Friday, but at this point it looks like it’ll be too weak to fully jump-start our local wind machine. Pacific high pressure will then build back into the western U.S. on Saturday and bring a fresh surge of north flow to BCS. Solid north flow is forecast to continue for several days as high pressure holds to our north, so we may see an extended period of solid wind through much of next week…stay tuned.
¡Buenos dias! An Oceansat satellite pass last evening showed the leading edge of the next norte had made it to Mulege, and all of the latest model forecasts show the norte reaching us by midday. Winds will steadily increase through the afternoon, especially just offshore, with gusty conditions likely. The norte will likely persist through Wednesday, and with a sunny day expected, we should see a good thermal boost as well. Models are still showing an unusually rapid transition from strong high pressure to low pressure over the southwestern U.S. on Thursday, with light background flow the result here. Similar conditions are likely on Friday, with marginal winds expected at this point. Long-range models forecasts are in good agreement that surface high pressure will build into the interior west of the U.S. on Saturday, leading to a tightening of the surface pressure gradient over BCS and solid north flow returning here. A similar weather pattern is forecast to hold into the beginning of next week.
Today…Mostly sunny. North wind 22-26 mph and gusty.
For anyone who has spent time in La Ventana, Oscaritos has likely been a part of that experience. This family-owned grocery store, a long-time staple of the community, boasts the widest selection of household items in the area. Whether you need to stock up on groceries, water, cash, or cleaning supplies, Oscaritos is the go-to spot for just about anything.
Founded 17 years ago by Armida and Oscarito himself, the store initially occupied a small space attached to the church, run by Armida and her mother. It offered only a limited selection of items. When prompted to change locations due to ownership issues, the family purchased the site we know today as Oscaritos.
The business continues to be a family affair, with cousins, sisters, and brothers all playing a part in keeping the store clean, well-stocked, and efficiently run. They’ve even expanded to a second location, Star Market (Oscaritos 2), in El Teso, owned by Armida and her brother.
From the moment you step inside, you’re greeted by familiar faces and a warm atmosphere. Armida and her family are among the original residents of La Ventana, born and raised here. She loves running the business, interacting with tourists, and the central role Oscaritos plays in the community.
When asked about her favorite aspects of La Ventana, Armida doesn’t hesitate to mention the beautiful beach right on their doorstep. She also cherishes the calm and relaxed atmosphere of the town, which perfectly complements the welcoming vibe of her family’s beloved store.
Location: On the main road heading towards the hot springs, on your right while going north.
Pictured in this photo: América, Míriam, Anicia, Roto, Lupita, Armida, Oscar
En Español
(translated by Andrea) Para cualquiera que haya pasado una temporada en La Ventana, es probable que Oscaritos haya sido parte de esa experiencia. Esta tienda familiar ha sido un pilar de la comunidad desde hace mucho tiempo, pues presume de tener la selección más amplia de artículos para el hogar en la zona.
Ya sea que necesites hacer las compras de la casa, garrafones de agua, efectivo o cualquier producto básico de limpieza, Oscaritos es el lugar indicado para casi cualquier cosa.
Fundada hace 17 años por Armida y el mismo Oscarito, la tienda inicialmente ocupaba un pequeño espacio adjunto a la iglesia, operando la tienda podías encontrar a Armida y a su madre. Ofrecía solo una selección limitada de artículos. Cuando se les pidió cambiar de ubicación debido a temas de propiedad, la familia compró el sitio que hoy conocemos como Oscaritos.
El negocio sigue siendo un asunto familiar. Primos, hermanos y hermanas juegan un papel importante para mantener la tienda bien surtida, limpia y funcionando eficientemente. Lo han hecho con tal éxito, que se han expandido a una segunda ubicación, Star Market (Oscaritos 2), en El Teso, manejada por Armida y su hermano.
Al entrar a Oscaritos, serás recibido por caras conocidas y una atmósfera cálida. Armida y su familia son residentes originarios de La Ventana, nacidos y criados allí. Le encanta manejar el negocio, interactuar con los turistas y el papel central que Oscaritos juega en la comunidad.
Cuando le preguntamos sobre sus aspectos favoritos de La Ventana, Armida dijo que su insuperable favorito es la hermosa playa justo en la puerta de su casa. También valora mucho la calma y el ambiente relajado del pueblo, que complementa perfectamente la vibra acogedora de la querida tienda de su familia.
Horario: Oscaritos: Todos los días, de 8am a 10pm, Star Market: Todos los días, de 7am a 10pm.
En esta foto aparecen: América, Míriam, Anicia, Roto, Lupita, Armida, Oscar
¡Buenos dias! Mid-level clouds plagued us for much of the day yesterday, with a brief window of marginal wind around noon at Rasta, then another window for the patient folks who did not deflate their kites (not me) from around 3 to 4:30 or so. Infrared satellite loops early this morning showed the thick, mid-level clouds continued to linger near Cabo, but all of the latest model forecasts show those clouds will not move into our region today. What will move in later today are thin, high clouds but they should allow for enough filtered sun to trigger our local thermal. A pass by the Oceansat satellite last evening measured 5-10 knot NW winds over the Sea of Cortez just east of Cerralvo, but all of the forecast models show the background north flow increasing enough this afternoon to give us a rideable day. Strong surface high pressure will then build into the southwestern U.S. on Tuesday, with norte conditions developing here and likely lasting into Wednesday. Forecast models are now in good agreement that the strong surface high over the 4-corners area of the U.S. will rapidly weaken on Thursday, with our background flow becoming light. Light north flow will likely continue through Friday as the surface pressure gradient over BCS remains weak. Long-range model forecasts are in agreement that a ridge of high pressure over the interior west of the U.S. will be nudged southward on Saturday, and this will tighten the surface pressure gradient over BCS, with solid north background flow returning. Pacific high pressure is then forecast to build into the western U.S. on Sunday, providing a reinforcing shot of north flow for our area.
Today…Mostly sunny. North wind 16-18 mph.
Tuesday…Mostly sunny. North wind 22-26 mph and gusty.
¡Buenos dias! The thickening high clouds that crept up from the south yesterday put a lid on our developing thermal, and while the wind gauge at the campground showed sustained winds peaked at 15-17 mph, it only lasted for about 1.5 hours (see nerd note below). Infrared satellite loops early this morning showed persistent thick, mid-level clouds over our area, but all of the latest model forecasts show these should begin to move off to the east around noon today and give us a window this afternoon for our local thermal to al least partially kick in. An Oceansat satellite pass last evening measured 10 knot NNW background flow over the southern Sea of Cortez but model forecasts show the background flow will weaken a bit this afternoon and approach the lower threshold for activating our local wind machine. Bottom line is it’ll be really close today. The latest model forecasts for Monday show sufficient north background flow and with mostly sunny skies expected, we should see a rideable afternoon. The norte is still on track to hit Tuesday, with typical first day norte gusty conditions expected. Low-end norte conditions should last though Wednesday, with better quality winds expected. The latest model forecasts for Thursday through Saturday are a hot mess, with models showing significant differences in the overall surface pressure pattern over our region. At this point it looks like we may see rideable wind each day, but confidence is very low.
Today…Cloudy this morning, then becoming mostly sunny this afternoon. North wind 14-16 mph.
Monday…Mostly sunny. North wind 16-18 mph.
Tuesday…Partly sunny. North wind 22-26 mph and gusty.
Wednesday…Sunny. North wind 20-24 mph.
Thursday…Sunny. North wind 16-18 mph.
Friday…Sunny. North wind 16-18 mph.
Saturday…Mostly sunny. North wind 18-22 mph.
Nerd Note: Yesterday was a great example of how sensitive our local wind machine is to cloud cover. The wind gauge at the campground measured winds at 15-17 mph from just before noon to a little after 1 pm (see graph). Satellite images from just before noon showed a narrow clear slot in the high cloud shield right over us. That’s about the time that the winds peaked, but by around 1 pm the clouds had quickly moved back in and our winds dropped rapidly.
¡Buenos dias! Although an Oceansat pass last evening measured similar background NNW flow to what we’ve enjoyed the last several days, infrared satellite loops this morning showed a band of thickening high clouds was creeping northward into our area, and this will likely at least partially dampen our local thermal today. A couple of the model forecasts do show some thin spots may form this afternoon in the cloud shield, so I’ll be optimistic that we can get just enough filtered sunshine to give us a rideable day. Most of the high clouds should move off to the east on Sunday, and model forecasts show just enough north background flow will continue to bring us a windy afternoon. Similar conditions are expected on Monday, but we may see a few more high clouds returning. Strong surface high pressure is forecast to build into the southwestern U.S. on Tuesday and send a surge of north wind down the Sea of Cortez, with norte conditions expected here. The norte should subside a bit on Wednesday, but we will still likely see another windy afternoon. Long-range model forecasts disagree on the amount of north background flow that will remain on Thursday and Friday, but a couple of them do show enough to continue our streak of windy days.
Today…Partly sunny. North wind 16-18 mph.
Sunday…Sunny. North wind 16-20 mph.
Monday…Mostly sunny. North wind 16-18 mph.
Tuesday…Mostly sunny. North wind 22-26 mph and gusty.
¡Buenos dias! A pair of ASCAT satellites measured 10-15 knot winds over the southern Sea of Cortez last evening, and again, all of the most recent forecast model runs show similar background north flow will continue today. Infrared satellite loops do show a few thin, high clouds streaming in from the west, but we should see ample sunshine to trigger our local thermal. The surface high centered far to our north over Utah will gradually weaken tomorrow, but enough background north flow will continue, and with only some thin, high clouds expected from time to time, we should add to this latest windy streak (see nerd note below). It now appears that a weak ridge of high pressure will form over the central Baja Peninsula on Sunday and last through Monday…with just enough north flow to give us rideable days. Strong high pressure is then forecast to build into the southwestern U.S. on Tuesday, with norte conditions developing here. The norte may continue through next Wednesday, but long-range model forecasts show winds decreasing substantially on Thursday.
Today…Mostly sunny. North wind 18-22 mph.
Saturday…Mostly sunny. North wind 16-20 mph.
Sunday…Sunny. North wind 16-20 mph.
Monday…Mostly sunny. North wind 16-18 mph.
Tuesday…Mostly sunny. North wind 22-26 mph and gusty.
Wednesday…Sunny. North wind 22-26 mph.
Thursday…Mostly sunny. North wind 16-20 mph.
Nerd Note: So far it seems like this has been one of the best windy seasons in recent memory, so I did a quick check of the number of windy days so far. Using the metric of sustained winds of 15 mph or more for at least 1 hour, there were 22 days in November, or 73%! The trend has continued into December, with 100% of the days so far meeting those criteria. If the current extended range model forecasts hold, we could see kiteable winds through the 16th of December. Our current windy streak started on November 28th, so that would make 19 straight days!!
In October, my dad and I enjoy/survive our annual Isla Cerralvo Camping Trip. October is one of the best times to find snakes in our area and — amazingly — this was our third year in a row pulling off a Cerralvo trip during this crazy time of year.
When we arrived on the beach of the island, spirits were high. We had everything we needed for a great trip. We started setting up camp but then the wind made its Appearance. We brought out our tarps and discovered that they were very old and would rip if you looked at them wrong.
After a frustrating few hours, we gave up on our tarp fragments and either huddled under our umbrella or stayed in the ocean for the majority of the day. Once the sun started to set, I began exploring the dunes. I found my favorite little junk pile and flipped every bit of metal in hopes of finding the endemic Savage’s Sand Snake (Sonora savagei).
These little snakes are not easy to find because they spend most of their time below the surface of the sand. However, underneath objects they will come up to enjoy the heat coming through the object, while still being protected from scary day creatures plus have access to their favorite foods such as crickets and scorpions.
I flipped the entire metal pile and found nothing. I was disappointed until I noticed one more piece of metal underneath the exact center of an extremely extensive and luscious thorn bush.
I was barefoot as I was not expecting to go thorn diving, but I have experience with thorny areas and bare feet, and I couldn’t miss this opportunity. I shuffled my way on all fours into the mass of vegetation. After a few minutes relocating branches and getting an impressive majority of leaves stuck in my hair, I arrived at the target. I took a deep breath, and flipped it.
Underneath that metal there was a lot of life, including a sand snake! It burrowed underneath the sand, and I started raking with my fingers in the sand with hopes of finding it burrowed underneath. To my surprise, my raking did turn up a sand snake, but this time it was a young one. I was able to grab it, and I kept going to find the other one. Then I noticed a scorpion in the corner. It was a little bit too close, and it was staring at me with the air of an irritated assassin. I recoiled a bit, but then the sand moved, and I extracted the second sand snake. The scorpion left its post and I put the metal down. I was so excited that I almost forgot about the prison of thorns. I made my escape, and I had just found two Savage’s Sand Snakes.
If you want to read more about our Cerralvo adventure, come read the rest on my free Substack, Beneath The Scales.
We had many dolphins swimming in our bay recently! Common and bottlenose dolphins are the most common species here in La Ventana, but each now and then we find other species, one of them being the pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata). Smaller than other dolphins, they are fast, playful, and highly acrobatic, irradiating a contagious joy. They love bow-riding and are very interactive, sometimes making eye contact from the water as they swim.
As their name indicates, they inhabit tropical and sub-tropical waters worldwide being probably the most abundant dolphins in the world. They are grey, with a darker dorsal cape, and have a dark and light spotting which is highly variable between individuals. They have no spots when they are born and develop them as they age, their spotting pattern is unique and can be used for photo identification. As they glide in the blue water, their spots look like glitter, shining bright.
Pantropical spotted dolphins often associate with yellowfin tuna, hunting together, last day we saw them, we could see the tuna hunting in front of the group. They feed on different offshore pelagic fish like lanternfish and flying fish, but they also eat squid and crustaceans and they usually hunt at night. Their association with tuna, caused a sharp reduction in their population during the 1980s, as tuna fishing boats were frequently capturing them together. Many dolphins were killed during this time, and more than 4 million were pantropical spotted. This sparked the famous and successful dolphin-safe tuna campaign, which led to changes in legislation, reducing mortality greatly. Thanks to these efforts, pantropical spotted dolphins now are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. Change is possible, always be an informed consumer and choose what you eat to minimize impacts on our planet!
Through observation, snorkelers and divers can learn a great deal about fish and their behaviors. This video is a share of fish behaviors I have witnessed while snorkeling along the El Sargento shoreline. I hope you enjoy the video: Discovering Fish Behavior.
