BayAreaKiteboarding.com

I'll be in San Francisco for a few days this week, with only the opportunity to kite Friday. NOAA is predicting S 5-15kts on Friday. Couple of questions:
1. Is this a fairly reliable forecast? Where I'm from the forecast frequently changes significantly 1-2 days beforehand, so a 3-4 day forecast is often fairly useless.
2. How should I read S 5-15kts? Does NOAA generally under-read? Over-read? Would be great to get an idea of whether I need to bring a 14m. (I'll be bringing a tt only.)

Appreciate the pointers!

I don't live in the Bay, but I've kited almost every popular spot there. The NOAA forecasts can be fairly reliable, but they often change since we're on the coast and thus the first major landmass impacted by weather from the Pacific, so double checking the day before is key.
It's looking like storm conditions (rain) on Friday, but S-SW winds are predicted. Alameda (Crown Beach) will probably be your best bet. Ocean Beach may be good, but check the wave forecast to make sure it's not too extreme. OB is one of the sketchiest places to kite in the fall and winter months, especially during stormy weather.
Since it's storm conditions, it's hard to say what kite you'll need. Alameda is notoriously light, so the 14m would be ideal, but when storm conditions hit, Crown Beach can be 7m conditions, so bring it all if you have it. Enjoy!
Tip: If you do kite in the Bay on Friday and it's raining, I'd take a very thorough shower immediately afterwards. Sadly everything drains into the Bay making the water very toxic during and after storms. Crown Beach has a shower btw!

Thanks for the info! Any other forecasting resources you recommend looking at besides noaa?

forecast tables on ikitesurf are great:
http://old.ikitesurf.com/windandwhere.i ... model=true

the USS hornet sensor is free and works great on south wind to know what the conditions are like in alameda:
http://old.ikitesurf.com/windandwhere.i ... siteID=337

webcam of alameda here:
https://boardsportscalifornia.com/weather1/webcam/

it is important to note that south wind are prefrontal storm wind and better left to advanced kiters. Really gusty and up and down by nature. Also hard to predict so you'll have to be at the right spot at the right time: local knowledge is key.
And last but not least: you'll probably end up alone at the beach, so if you don't know how to safely self launch and self land in gusty wind: please don't bother.

oh, and do not swallow the water. :)

You may have gone already - but if you haven't ... look for coast, set your time-frame and click on it. Alameda & OB are both good suggestions. You can't bring the wind home with you from the bay area but you can bring the app. Enjoy

windy.tv