Northern California - winter wind direction??

hey--
i'm riding in the dead of winter (jan 11 to jan-whenever-we-give-up) from la to sf with a friend. i've read basically everywhere on the net that in summer the prevailing winds are north to south, and as such going sf to la is advisable..

one site about california climate said winter winds along the coast tend to run south to north, so that was encouraging, but it was only one source. we really don't want to ride sf-la, it seems so anticlimactic to go from the greatest city on earth to the ****tiest... hah.

so does anyone know about coastal california winter winds?

I've noticed in the SF Bay area that just about the only time the wind blows from the south/east is during nasty weather. So ... headwinds or rain, take your pick :D But seriously, check out wunderground.com (http://wunderground.com/) and look at the historic wind data for some points along your route.

You planning to take Hwy 1 all the way up?

My experience from commuting for the past few years concurs with what silentben said. Additionally, the wind speed usually picks up in the afternoon.

As a pilot, I've observed that prevailing winds in the Bay area and much of the California coast, year round, are from the north-east to north-west. When storms approach (usually in winter, of course) winds switch around and come in from the south or southwest. Once the front moves through, winds switch and come from the north again. Terrain will affect this; the rule may not apply in inland valleys.

When a winter storm is inbound, the winds will tend to be from the south or southeast. As the storm moves out, they often shift to the north and get real cold. This is what I observe in the central valley.

Anyone who rode Foxy's fall Century in 2007 saw this result in them having a headwind during the entire 106 mile loop.