Seeking Shelter from Screaming Blue Northers

“March winds blow” isn’t just a whimsical adage like April showers and May flowers. But, for springtime boaters in Mexican waters, it’s the key to route planning. Here’s why. During March and early April, a unique weather pattern called a Plateau High can develop over the mountain plateaus of mid and southern Nevada, often forcing the surface winds to flow outward from the center of the high-pressure area.   For boaters in northwest Mexico, winds that originated in the Nevada Plateau are felt as cold and dry, blowing from the north toward the south and southwest. Of course, most of the time, you’ll find good cruising and fishing weather. Not every breath of wind from the north came from Nevada. Sometimes it’s just a short-duration blast of the north wind that spilled over from a winter storm sliding down from the Pacific Northwest.   But when a Plateau High settles in, as it can do during March, those north winds in northern Mexico tend to increase (15 to 28 knots or more) and can blow steadily, day and night, sometimes lasting five or six days with no respite.     That’s called a “Nortada” or a “Norther.” When a true Norther blows, it can rake Baja California’s Pacific...