Random Surf Report – Afternoon waves

Well it looks like the worst part of the storm has moved through the area and winds, at least in a few of the more Southerly Counties (LA down through San Diego) are dropping, turning more SE’erly, and generally cleaning up…though San Diego and the South Bay have been pretty clean most of the day...(We are going to need to send mother nature a nice note about keeping the winds pretty SE for this storm). Check out the latest wind update from about 1pm…if anything the local winds have improved.



The W swell is also starting to show…with a few solid looking sets hitting up around Ventura/LA…and an increase (but not quite as dramatic) building in San Diego and Orange County. I do expect this W swell to fill in more over the next several hours and likely peak tonight (and overnight into Thursday).



At this point it looks like the Ventura and other well exposed NW facing spots are seeing consistent shoulder-head high surf with some overhead sets mixing in.

Further South…the W facing breaks in the South Bay and San Diego seem to be more in the chest-shoulder high range but with a few bigger shoulder-head high sets showing at times. Like I said…I do expect to see bigger, more consistently overhead surf at the standouts in those areas by later this afternoon…hopefully the winds will hold.

I had a couple of you guys ask about water quality…and while I am not a doctor or a microbiologist…I have seen some pretty nasty crap pushed out of rivers/storm-drains over the course of my 20+ years of surfing…and as I am getting older I am a little more cautious when it comes to getting exposed to run-off and pollution.

Here is the official party line from the Orange County Ocean Water Protection group…you can find the live Orange County water quality updates at www.ocbeachinfo.com (I’ll find the ones for the other counties in a bit…unless you guys have them to post in the comments section already).

IN OTHER BEACH AREAS, THE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH STAFF ADVISE SWIMMERS THAT LEVELS OF BACTERIA CAN RISE SIGNIFICANTLY IN OCEAN AND BAY WATERS ADJACENT TO STORM DRAINS, CREEKS AND RIVERS DURING AND AFTER RAINSTORMS. THE ELEVATED LEVELS OF BACTERIA MAY CONTINUE FOR A PERIOD OF AT LEAST 3 DAYS DEPENDING UPON THE INTENSITY OF THE RAIN AND THE VOLUME OF THE RUNOFF. SWIMMERS SHOULD AVOID COASTAL WATERS IMPACTED BY DISCHARGING STORM DRAINS, CREEKS AND RIVERS, AND BEACH USERS SHOULD AVOID CONTACT WITH ANY RUNOFF ON THE BEACH DURING DRY OR WET WEATHER CONDITIONS.

Personally…and find myself doing it all the time…I think you need to weigh the risks of surfing in potentially polluted water against what sort of surf you will be paddling out for. Is it so “good” that you are willing to risk your short and potentially long-term health? For me the answer is usually no…but I know that there have been a few days when it has been soooo good that I couldn’t resist.

At the end of the day…the powers that monitor the water quality say that we should stay out of the water for at least 3 days after heavy rains, particularly in areas with river/creeks/storm-drains.