Monday, December 21, 2009

Windy Mess for Tuesday – peaking WNW energy and onshore winds

Tuesday is not looking like much of a surf day.

We will have a mix of building WNW-NW wind/stormswell and some medium period WNW energy (275-300 all mixed together) along with a touch of SSW swell from the Southern Hemi.



Surfwise the average spots are going to see some sloppy waist-shoulder sets, while the average WNW facing spots see more consistent chest-head high surf. The standout NW breaks, the spots will excellent exposure to the swell mix, will be consistently shoulder-overhead on sets with some bigger waves sneaking through at times. Unfortunately the most exposed spots will also be the most exposed to the onshore wind so shape looks pretty ugly for most of the area.

Winds will be out of the WNW-NW around 10-15 knots for the morning with gusts hitting around 15-20 at the average spots. The really windy areas will have 15-20 knots winds in the morning with gusts topping out around 25-knot+ at times. Winds will stay around the same speed most of the day.



Personally I think Tuesday is going to be a good day to stay in bed…onshore winds, cold air temps, and sloppy surf just doesn’t motivate me very well. I do however think that we might want to give the cams and wind stations a quick check in the morning, sometimes these fronts don’t push through the way the models expect and there is a small window of surf time early in the day. Also the NW wind direction doesn’t blow everything completely out…there are a few small pockets in Santa Barbara and North LA that don’t get super junky…the only drawback with those spots is they also don’t pull in much NW swell, particularly when the periods are short, so you might see cleaner shape but much smaller surf. I always think it is prudent to give the surf a check anytime there is swell in the water, despite what the winds say they are going to do.

Here are the tides…lets cross our fingers that the winds come through lighter and cleaner than the forecast says.

12/22/2009 Tuesday
01:22AM LST 3.7 H
06:23AM LST 2.7 L
11:38AM LST 3.9 H
07:03PM LST 0.8 L

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

this swell is already waaaaaay better than the "swell of the decade"! 28th firing!

Anonymous said...

Must have been empty since everyone headed a few miles north to check out 'beach break Rincon'.

Doheny, Jordy Smith, Simpson, Carlson, and a cast of many others. Jeez louise.

Anonymous said...

I will check the wind with my middle finger slowly turning my hand around if the wind is significantly onshore.
HB way mo biggah and bettah, lol firing, you small wave avocados.
Coconutz!

Anonymous said...

28th gets bigger then most of hb on swells of a certain direction that i will not say here, plus its not a crumbly closeout like all of hb is...364 days of the year, you crumbly wave oranges who have never been barreled

Anonymous said...

Really, 28th firing? Here's the Surfline report @ 1:30pm:

* 40th 2-3 ft+ knee to chest high occ. 4 ft.
* 36th 2-3 ft+ knee to chest high occ. 4 ft.
* Newp Pier 2-3 ft knee to waist high

And here's the same report for where every pro/ho/bro and photog was:
* 4-6 ft shoulder high to 1 ft. overhead

Actually, it was bigger than that.

Anonymous said...

all newport can be 10 feet and newport pier might be pushing ch, the pier is different from 28th

Surfsister said...

I really hate it when you're right, Adam. I was all set to hit it at dawn. At 3 a.m., I heard the wind start. When I got up to get ready for my DP session, I could tell the wind was ruling everything. I didn't even need to go outside. At least I expected this (thanks to your forecast)!

Anonymous said...

yeah, you've been nailing the forecast lately. much appreciated.
have a great christmas, Adam!

Anonymous said...

None of you Barneys were in Carlsbad Monday afternoon because I had it to myself basically. It was hollow, reeling, and overhead. Psychedelic sunset to boot.
What. Smile.

Great site and I love that you're in HB, Adam!

Anonymous said...

no, i wasn't in your carlsbad, fella. i was in perfect peeling, A-frame, 4-5 footer, open-face magicland known as sunset cliffs. you can keep your flowers.

Vince said...

hey adam will the winds lay down at all for a junky sunset sesh??

Anonymous said...

why ya'll complaining about the winds? search out a bit and u'll find find should-head high offsore waves like the ones today down in...

Vince said...

LIES!