That is good speculation. There are also foothills nearby that could funnel the wind into the gorge.
I mentioned on the site that I grew up in the Visalia/Dinuba area. My very first job to earn money in the summer was flagging for crop dusters out of Green Acres airport off Goshen Avenue. They used stearman, which as you most likley know. are perfect for crop dusting. We only had use of other aircraft when borrowed during maintenance, the usual one being an ag cat borrowed from Tulare.
One of the big advantages of the ag cat over the stearman was the engine was smaller and allowed the pilot to see right in front of him when making a pass. It gave him better sight of the trip concerning trees, standpipes, buildings, and any rises in the land, and, of course, the flaggers. A lot safer.
West of the airport, along a cut out and risen canal for the St. John River, was a bunch of alfalfa fields that needed spraying for years. We were aware of this, but along the river there was a wind area that changed directions and strength and it happened to me once.
The aircraft was down about 5 feet off the ground and I was walking to my next position when the wind suddenly stopped, blew forcefully in the opposite direction then back to original direction. It cause the aircraft to lost lift in the wings it bounced on the gear in the alfalfa and went up over me on the ground and bellied into the alfalfa in the field on the other side of the river. No one hurt, but pilots would not use flaggers for that area after that. Didn’t hurt my feelings.
wy69