Tuesday’s Surf – Leftovers but with some new WNW-NW swell showing out back

Tuesday will be a surf day…though it will still pay off to work around the high tide peak.

Tuesday will be a bit of transition day…the WNW-NW swell from the weekend will continue to drop off but another round of WNW-NW energy (280-300) will begin filling in as we move throughout the day. This new swell will be showing some new lines for exposed spots in Santa Barbara and Ventura during the morning…while spots further south will have mostly leftovers. By the afternoon the better WNW-NW breaks should be seeing at least a little more consistency.



Look for most average WNW facing breaks to see waist-chest high surf…standout NW breaks will be closer to shoulder high though the early morning. Things slow down again with the AM high tide but as the tide drops we should see more consistency and some bigger surf as the new WNW-NW’er fills in. I expect that the really exposed spots, mostly in Ventura, will have some head high+ sets showing before sunset…but don’t expect quite that much energy further south…the swell will fill in more after dark and will eventually peak on Wednesday.

Winds look good for the morning…mostly light and variable to light ESE. Winds shift more S-SW onshore around 10-12 knots for the afternoon. Chance of light showers developing overnight into Wednesday.



Now that the tide is shifting a little further back in the day I think we will have a bit more of a surf window in the morning…it will still swamp out pretty fast but there should be more to work with than the last couple of days. Unfortunately the surf is going to be a little weak in most areas early on, mostly because it will be just leftover WNW swell and weak S-SSW swell in the water, but if you bring the right gear you should still be able to have some fun. It looks like the wind may get to it by the afternoon but with the new swell filling in and the lower afternoon tide I still think it will warrant at least a quick surf-cam check late in the day.

Make sure to check the regional forecasts to see how the swell mix affects the different stretches of coastline.

Regional/County Forecasts

Santa Barbara Surf Forecast
Ventura County Surf Forecast
Los Angeles County Surf Forecast
Orange County Surf Forecast
San Diego Surf Forecast

Here are the tides…

02/02/2010 Tuesday
05:09AM LST 0.8 L
10:56AM LST 4.8 H
05:25PM LST -0.1 L
11:47PM LST 5.0 H