Sunday, November 22, 2009

Monday’s Surf – Clean and slowly fading

Monday looks like a surf day…but you will need to stick to the top NW exposed spots if you are looking for bigger size and more consistency.

In the water we are going to see a mix of backing off WNW-NW swell (280-300) and some trace SW energy (210-220). A lot of the North Pacific energy is starting to turn pretty steep in swell direction…which reflects how the storm moved through our swell window (eventually hitting further North along the West Coast…and into Canada)…so most of swell is now coming in around 290-300 but with the majority of the energy at 295+.

I know “great lots of numbers…just what I need on a weekend”…basically it comes down to this...with the angle getting steeper (and the swell periods shortening up) less spots are going to be able to pick up the NW swell, which means that wave heights are going to drop pretty fast if your spot/region has less exposure to that swell angle. NW spots will still have some playful sizes but expect them to be on the way down as well.



For our surf tomorrow…most of the average WNW-NW breaks and the better combo spots are going to be in the waist-chest high range. The standout NW facing breaks, in Ventura, the South Bay, and in particular San Diego, will be more in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high sets still pushing through on the higher tides.

Winds look good…light/moderate NE winds for SB and Ventura…and light offshore for everywhere else. Winds stay light through the middle of the day and then come onshore out of the NW around 10-13 knots.



If you have a good NW spot close by (and by good I mean exposed to short-medium period NW energy around 295 degrees)…that is going to be the best call by far. If you don’t have a NW facing spot then you are going to want to check the other “winter” spots close by…but don’t expect a ton of size or consistency as the swell fades. I don’t think it will be worth driving too far for this swell, but I would tack on another 10 minutes if a good spot is close.


Here are the tides… (I am skipping the regional forecasts for the evening…they will be updated again Monday evening).

11/23/2009 Mon
03:11AM LST 3.6 H
07:19AM LST 3.3 L
12:28PM LST 4.0 H
08:29PM LST 0.9 L

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Adam, thanks for calling days as either surf days or no surf days. this blog has simplified my life like crazy the past couple weeks and I tell everyone I know about it.

cheers.

Declan X said...

Honestly, I don't read the regional forecasts. The main forecast gives me more than enough info to figure out what the waves are going to be like for my breaks. Jus' sayin'.

Anonymous said...

true, me, too.

Anonymous said...

I'm with ya on that. I'd save yourself some solid surf time and skip the regional...