Thursday, April 17, 2008

Friday’s Surf – More SW swell and something bright and shiny to look at

Friday will be a surf day…but the swell is a little shadowed for a few areas and it looks a bit inconsistent even for the exposed areas.

In the water we will have a mix of slowly building SW swell (210-220) and some local NW windswell.

Most breaks will be in the knee-waist high range while the standout breaks, in San Diego, South OC, the north half of the South Bay, see some shoulder high sets. (See my cool new wave height box…is it not nifty?)




Winds look good for the morning. Mostly light and variable through the dawn patrol. Expect onshore W winds around 10-15 knots by the afternoon.

The swell slowly builds throughout the day so look for more consistent and bigger sets as we head toward sundown.

For the best surf you are going to want to stick with the exposed areas…the swell already has some shadowing problems from going through the SPAC islands but as it approaches the coast you are going to see even more (and heavier) shadowing from the nearshore islands like Catalina, San Clemente Island, and the Channel Islands. Expect longer waits between waves but fun sets when they do show.

From an overall exposure standpoint San Diego will be the best region to hunt around for some surf. The other areas will be less exposed but will still have a few playful waves at the SW facing spots.

Unfortunately I am locked down in the North OC swell shadow for the day…but I may break out my ugly-stick longboard to catch a few at lunch.

Oh hey make sure to send me some feedback if you like the wave height chart…it is sort of a pain to produce but if you guys like it I will keep posting it. Wave heights are in face size if you were wondering.

9 comments:

Alex said...

I like it! Keep the charts coming

Alex

Declan X said...

Charts are cool, but if too much pain maybe not worth it.

Yong Jung Shin said...

I m loving the charts! Keep em up!

pushingtide said...

Don't get commercial and same-as-all-the-others already. That chart looks like every other lame surf site. Keep it like you have been, homegrown and informative and not just another clone.

Unknown said...

If it's too much trouble, then forget it. It's the great info amd funny comment's like "horse Dog" that we like anyways.

RG

Anonymous said...

I like the chart, but I like the grassroots feel of your forecast better. It's nice to look at the chart if you don't have much time, but I personally think the personal touch is cooler than the chart. So if the chart stays, cool, if not, also cool.

srfnff said...

I am a chart freak so I like the charts, but I am a bigger nerd/geek read every word about the forecast and data freak. So while I like the chart for it's "at-a-glance" utility, I mostly agree with the majority of comments so far especially if it's a hassle to make the charts on a daily basis then it may not be worth the trouble. But don't abandon your other charting, your charts are too good...and I don't even live in SoCal!

Julie said...

I like the chart because it makes it simple. Maybe too much so ha ha. But the overlay maps you do are cooler. :) But as other people said I like your informative written forecasts a lot...

Anonymous said...

I agree with others: chart looks great, but it's the info that I really dig, so, don't give yourself more chores than you need.