Sunday, November 30, 2008

Monday’s Surf – The new WNW’er peaks

Monday will definitely be a surf day. We have the new WNW swell (that really starting to grind its way into SoCal) and decent winds for the morning and most of the early afternoon. About the only lameness is a consistent layer of thick fog that is going to swing back and forth across the coastal areas.

Swellwise the majority of the energy hitting SoCal tomorrow will be the WNW swell (285-300) but there will also be some S swell (180-190) hiding in the background. Check out the CDIP…the swell is finally starting to show more around 290-degrees compared to a lot of the initial energy that was coming in closer to 300-degrees.



Most spots with some WNW facing exposure will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high sets. The standout NW facing spots, mostly in San Diego but also in the Ventura and South Bay areas, will have consistent shoulder-overhead sets. Top spots in San Diego will have sets going 2-3’+ overhead at times.

Winds look good…mostly light and variable through the morning but watch for some funky texture from the fog winds. Overall I would expect cleaner conditions at spots with some protection from light winds…the more open beach breaks may be a touch bumpy at times.

There is still going to be a pretty big size difference between the top NW facing spots and the average breaks…so if you are looking for bigger surf you are going to want to check those winter standouts. San Diego will have the most consistent, and the biggest, surf but Southern Ventura and the top South Bay spots will have some size as well. With the fog I am not so sure how worth it will be to do a lot of driving…you might spend a bit too much time on the road and not be able to see the surf when you get there. But if you are fine rolling the dice there will definitely be plenty of energy if you stick to the better areas.

Have a good one…here are the tides.

12:01AM LST 3.3’ H
03:39AM LST 2.9’ L
09:54AM LST 5.3’ H
05:53PM LST 0.1’ L

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The swell is already dropping - never was really that big in the first place - at least in SoCal.

Surfed Sun afternoon (peak of the swell?) at one of the more popular N SD county winter breaks, and it only had 8ft+ faces on very infrequent sets.

Of course, there were 10 guys scratching for every set wave, but that's the price you pay to surf a quality regional wave with a cliff top view.

Gonna stay local today at my favorite man-made break when the fog finally burns off enough to see. Hopefully, it will have a few 6ft lefts every now & then.

pushingtide said...

Messy and windy unfortunately.

Anonymous said...

"Messy and windy unfortunately."

I swear OC has the worst surf in Calif. The only reason people surf here is because they either have a great job that can't be transferred or they simply don't know any better.

Put me in the 1st category; all the kids have got to be in the 2nd. One winter away after HS, either north or south (hint: UCSB or UCSD), is enough to find out that, yes, Calif has world-class waves.

Unknown said...

I actually got out and surfed HB around 11:30 today and it wasn't that bad. There was a little wind-funk from the fog but overall it was fairly clean and with plenty of size.

Lots of shoulder-head high sets and I wasn't even really at a good WNW facing beach (the cliffs looked a lot bigger). Hell even the tide was still pretty high and there was still enough size to push some fun sets through.

That being said it would have been a lot more inviting without the fog and with a lower tide.

Anonymous said...

Not that I would be charging by any means (I always surfed the Lane), but here's what a world-class wave looks like on this swell:

http://www.mavsurfer.com/

Town would have been 1/2 the size, but with the same general power, shape & conditions. Compare that to the pathetic stuff in "The OC".

Anonymous said...

To the Anonymous dick who seems to know California so well: It's called consistency A-hole! There is more surf year round in Orange County then any other county. If the quality doesn't up your fancy, find a new job, and get the fuk out!

FYI: It's not "The OC" dick

Unknown said...

Hey guys...this is supposed to be a fun place...it is cool to vent, I know that shit gets frustrating and writing about it makes you feel better, but lets not bash each other. Thanks