Summertime Wind Speed Trends in Southern California

Studies done previously by Lebassi et al, 2009 showed that daily maximum temperature (Tmax) in urban coastal areas of California is decreasing during summertime from 1970-2010 due to an increase in sea-breeze activity. An analysis was made to study the wind speed trends during summertime [(June, July, August, and September (JJAS)] at daytime from 1973-2010, in order to validate this hypothesis.

Long term hourly daytime average and maximum wind speed trends were analyzed for six ground stations in Southern California. Results show statistically significant increases in wind speeds for inland areas where the sea-breeze didn't reach in past decades and non-significant changes in coastal areas exposed to sea-breeze during the entire period. These results give support to the hypothesis posted by the previous authors.