Proof: On Average, the Winds Are Perfect at Elephant Butte Lake

Oh yes, it's true; on average, the sailing winds are perfect at Elephant Butte Lake.

On average, that is. Mathematically averaged, this weekend's winds were about 12 mph, but I don't think we ever saw a 12 mph breeze.

We've had many weekends this fall with too much or too little wind. On the weekend of December 1st, the Kris Kringle Regatta was blown out by too much wind on Saturday, with sustained winds around 30 mph and gusts exceeding 50.

The forecast for this past weekend (December 8 and 9, 2007) was much more promising; late in the week the weather services predicted winds of 15 to 20 mph on Saturday and around 10 mph on Sunday. That sounded like lots of fun.

But, reality was that Saturday's winds were more like 25 mph gusting to 35 mph and Sunday's winds were more often calm than measurable. Whoops. Yeah, the AVERAGE wind speed was about 10 to 15 mph, but I think we saw that for about 30 minutes out of all the hours we were near or on the water.

Oh well. We still had fun with decorating a fellow sailor's sloop for the holiday light parade and mingling with the holiday crowd. On Sunday, we fetched a boat trailer, helped haul out and de-rig a boat, and helped moved a wooden deck, along with socializing with sailing friends.



Weather graph for Saturday. During the main daylight sailing hours, wind speeds averaged 26 mph, with hourly gusts averaging 39 mph. For the 24 hour period, sustained winds averaged 19 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 33 mph and gusts to 44 mph. Winds are measured a few miles from the lake and are typically slightly less near the lake surface. During a strong blow, variations in the wind, topography, and other local conditions can create areas of confused or stronger blasts.

Time (mst) Wind (mph) and gusts

16:53	SW 22 G 39
15:53	SW 22 G 33
14:53	SW 23 G 36
13:53	SW 33 G 44
12:53	S 29 G 43
11:53	S 28 G 41
10:53	S 23 G 38
09:53	S 24 G 35

Weather graph for Sunday. During the main daylight sailing hours, wind speeds averaged 4 mph. For the 24 hour period, sustained winds averaged 3 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 10 mph and nothing even faintly resembling a wind gust during the entire 24 hours. Phooey!

Time (mst)	Wind(mph)
16:53	Calm
15:53	Calm
14:53	Vrbl 3
13:53	S 3
12:53	Calm
11:53	Calm
10:53	NE 8
09:53	NE 10