Thursday, June 10, 2010

Surf for Friday – Shot of windswell and some lighter AM winds

Friday is actually looking fairly surfable…and if the winds give us a little slack it could be kind of fun through the morning.

We are going to see a mix of peaking WNW-NW windswell (285-300 but with the main part of the energy hanging around 290-300, which means there will be pretty big range in size between the WNW exposed breaks and the truly NW exposed ones.) There will also be some smaller, overlapping S-SW swells (190-210), holding in the background…but they are going to get a little washed out by the bigger windswell.



Average exposed spots will be in the waist-chest high range on Friday. The better WNW-NW facing breaks and the good combo spots will be more in the chest-shoulder high range…while the standout NW facing breaks and excellent NW/SW combo spots, mostly through Southern San Diego, the South Bay, and Southern Ventura, see some chest-head high surf. The top breaks in S. San Diego might even come in a bit bigger if the windswell holds strong into the morning. Don’t expect a ton of push to the surf in most areas…the periods are short enough that you might even want to try to stick with boards that work better in mushy surf.

Winds will start off on the lighter side…there will still be some eddy circulation in the morning but the center of the coastal low is forecast to set up a bit more toward Catalina. If this is the cast then we would see ESE-E winds through Ventura and LA Counties…with the cleanest conditions at spots with a bit more shelter from the slightly southerly flow. Orange County and San Diego will have some light S winds…even a few pockets of SSE here and there…with overall wind speeds holding below the 5-8 knot range. Winds do shift onshore out of the WNW-NW 10-15+ knots by the afternoon.



Soooo a lot of the “fun” tomorrow is dependent on the WNW-NW windswell and the local morning winds…both of which can be a little flakey. All it takes is for the windswell to come in a little steeper on the NW angle or the eddy to settle in the wrong place and the wheels will come off. Since things aren’t all that stable I would definitely suggest checking the cameras, or the wind-stations, before driving too far…it might save you some gas and some frustration. The NW windswell spots are going to be the best call, particularly if they have some shelter from the southerly winds…chances are they are going to stay cleanest the longest and have the most size.

Here are the tides…

06/11/2010 Friday

03:38AM LDT -1.0 L
10:03AM LDT 3.5 H
02:33PM LDT 2.1 L
08:45PM LDT 6.3 H

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

you say 5-8 knotts in the morning like its no big deal...

Unknown said...

He said below 5 to 8 Beavis

Anonymous said...

No reason to quibble. The bottom line is that Calif has great waves from Aug/Sept through Feb/Mar. However, the Apr through June/July window rivals any of the worst spots on the planet.

Sure, we may get an occasional freaky good day, but the daily record shows screeching spring winds that transition to foggy south winds (eddy).

Things don't usually improve till the water warms up & the winds drop. Add in late summer S swells and beginning NWs and that's why fall/winter is world class.

Spring is either time for finals or traveling somewhere else.

Anonymous said...

dang this morning had strong eddy winds

Anonymous said...

where can I check wind stations online?

Anonymous said...

huh? june july not good? well i can see that if you live north of oc but orange county- sd pumps all the way threw summer...and winter really, usually the eddys only blow it out once a week (but there are spots that pick up souths and have shelter from se winds) and its never flat so you definetly get alot of quality surfin in+ oc on down is no more then jacket and spring suits right now, i understand up north is freezing?
sux

Anonymous said...

those lighter winds werent light, good news is that water sure is nice (well good for so cal i mean)

Anonymous said...

I use weather underground for current wind conditions myself.