NPAC Swell Update: Buoy 46059 is seeing the bigger WNW swell

I am sure that a lot of you are already watching the buoys waiting for the new WNW swell to arrive.

Well a chunk of the swell is already starting to hit up in Northern/Central California and will likely peak up there tonight and into tomorrow. Check out the current CDIP map for Central California.



My buddy, who is up in that area sent me a text that the swell, and I quote, “It is looking gnarly, lots of raw swell. Double overhead already and likely 15-18’ faces by sundown”…fricken sweet.

It won’t be that big in SoCal but we can expect consistent shoulder-head high surf for the average WNW facing spots. Top NW spots in San Diego, Northern Baja, as well as parts of Ventura, will have overhead surf with sets going 2-3’ overhead at times.

Check out the latest observations from the California Buoy (Buoy #46059). You can see that the peak of the swell pushed through closer to late afternoon…so SoCal should see the peak of the swell around Sunday afternoon/Monday Morning (at least these will be the surfable times…the swell really peaks overnight).

Here is the wave heights timeline…you can see that the buoy has been running about the same size for both of the NW swells that are currently showing…but…



…the swell period is quite different. The first swell, the smaller of the two, peaked around 16-17 seconds. The second swell is peaking at almost 20-seconds, which means it has a LOT more energy.


who does number 2 work for?

Anyway I just wanted to post a quick update. If you are looking for larger surf…make sure to check spots that have good exposure to the NW (290-300) and can focus the longer-period energy. Spots that need a more westerly swell angle (Like Santa Barbara, North LA, and OC) will have waves too but they will be smaller…so if you want big waves you might have to drive around a little.