Surf for Friday – Friday Funtime

Friday is looking like a surf day.

It won’t be huge or anything, but we can expect some playful sizes at the better exposed breaks, light winds, and some nice warm water in most areas. On Friday we are going to see a mix of S-SW tropical swell (190-215) from Hurricane Linda, some local NW windswell, and some background SW swell still creeping out of the Southern Hemi. Again the CDIP isn’t showing a lot of action...but the waves are out there.



Wave heights are going to average around waist-chest high for most S-SW facing spots tomorrow. The average NW facing breaks will be closer to the knee-waist high+ range. The top breaks, particularly the well exposed combo breaks, will be in the chest-high+ range fairly consistently and will see some bigger shoulder high sets mixing on the lower tides. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few larger sets starting to sneak in later in the day as the tropical swell picks up a touch more.

Winds look ok...mostly light and variable through the morning with a couple pockets of texture showing at the more exposed areas. Look for WNW-NW winds 10-15 knots moving in through the afternoon.



The S-SW facing breaks, the ones that like short-period tropical swells, will be the best call tomorrow...I actually think that the points/reefs will have a little bit better shape...but the beach breaks, particularly ones with some sort of structure to break up the S-SW lines, will be fun as well. It looks like Orange County, parts of North LA, and parts of Northern SD, will have the largest and most consistent surf...but the SW/NW mix should have some rideable waves showing most places (Santa Barbara might get left out). I would probably bring boards that like smaller waves...just cause there isn’t a lot of size...but thicker/fishy shapes will probably be pretty fun at the right spots.

Here are the tides...

Fri 02:04PM LDT 5.1 H
10:44PM LDT 0.7 L

Waves for the Weekend – On the Road

Hey gang…sorry about the missed update yesterday, I was taking the slow road on Vacation and didn’t get in front of a computer until this morning. Anyway…here is the update for the weekend.

Saturday and Sunday are both going to be surf days, nothing special sizewise, but clean through the mornings and with a few chest-shoulder high waves at the top spots.

We are going to have a mix of S-SW swell (170-220), some of which is fading energy from the work week as well as some new reinforcement swell from the Southern Hemisphere. The swell does start to trail off a touch on Sunday but there will be a little more pulse from the SW creeping up again on Monday.



Sizewise we can expect most spots to average around knee-waist high, particularly as the tides get funky throughout the day. Top S-SW facing spots will have chest-shoulder high sets, but expect it to be on the inconsistent side and tide sensitive as well.

Winds look good for both days…mostly light and variable through the mornings with some moderate W-SW flow around 10-14 knots for the afternoon.

Like I said, nothing outstanding this weekend…just sort of an average workhorse sort of swell, playful if you can combine a well exposed spot with a decent tide. I would probably stick to your smaller wave gear, something fishy or longboardish, just so you can make the most of the downtime between sets and a few of the smaller spots.

Here are the tides…have a good one!

Saturday
12:39AM LDT 5.2 H
07:45AM LDT -0.3 L
02:25PM LDT 4.5 H
08:17PM LDT 1.9 L

Sunday
01:44AM LDT 4.3 H
08:31AM LDT 0.4 L
03:18PM LDT 4.8 H
09:47PM LDT 1.6 L

Tuesday’s Surf – Taking my sweet time with these forecasts

Tuesday is looking pretty surfy…winds continue to look good and we have a fun combo mix of WNW and SW swell…now we just need a certain surf forecaster to get off his butt and tell us about it.

Swellwise…We have a fading but still healthy push of WNW energy (both short and medium period stuff coming in from 285-300), and some new SW swell (200-220) that is filling in as well. The SW’er doesn’t look great, it had to come in from a shadowed section of the SPAC but it should punt in a few sets to the better exposed combo breaks.



On average we are going to see most of our surf coming from the WNW swell mix. Look for the average spots that can pull in some of WNW’er to have surf in the waist-chest high+ range with some shoulder high sets. Standout WNW facing breaks, mostly through San Diego (but in a few other areas as well) will have some shoulder-head high+ sets through the morning. Combo spots will be similar in size but may be a touch less consistent.

Winds look good for the morning again. We should have light and variable to light offshore flow for most spots. There may be a couple of spots of texture but in general they will be pretty localized. Look for those winds to shift around out of the WNW-NW around 10-12+ knots for the afternoon.

I think there are going to be plenty of waves out there tomorrow. Santa Barbara will probably be a bit smaller than the other regions (look at the CDIP map). So if you usually surf those more exposed areas there will be plenty of places to check…I would probably stick with the breaks that can pull in the WNW energy or at least the better combo spots. Again I think the beach breaks will do better, particularly if there is something like a pier or jetty to break up the swell. Points and reefs will still be fun but may be a bit sectiony off the shorter-period swell.

Tides for Tuesday

12:38AM LST 1.2’ Low
06:48AM LST 6.1’ High
01:51PM LST -0.5’ Low
07:56PM LST 4.1’ High

Thursday's Surf - Looking fun

Thursday is looking like a surf day. (even Wednesday ended up being more of a surf day than I anticipated and it looks like it should be at least bigger, if not better tomorrow).

We are going to see a mix of overlapping S-SW swells (190-205), local windswell, and some new WNW energy (290-300) from the NPAC.

Average spots throughout SoCal will be in the waist high range with some chest high sets on the lower tides.

Better S-SW facing spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range on sets.

Standout S-SW facing breaks as well the top combo swell spots, mostly in Orange County and San Diego, will have surf in the chest-head high range.

Conditions look pretty good...mostly light and variable with some pockets of light offshore flow in some of the areas with passes or canyons. Check out the wind-model for tomorrow morning.




I am going to get up and go surfing tomorrow morning. I don't expect it to be "great" but I do think it will be fun...and my new quad really needs to have some fun-size clean conditions to get broken in. I think the morning will be the best call...the winds are light, the tides have finally evened out a bit, and the swell mix will be in the water. I don't think it will be worth driving a ton to get waves, just not enough size to make spots really click, but if you have to burn a little extra gas to get to the beach Thursday will be decent call...particularly since it looks like weather starts to crap out on us Friday and Saturday.

Here are the tides for Thursday.

04:35AM 1.9' Low
10:45AM 5.5' High
06:02PM 0.5' Low

Monday’s Surf – A little more size

Man how sweet was the weather along the coast this weekend? (It probably sucked inland…but hey at least it was a dry heat).

Monday will be a surf day…not a huge surf day but still pretty fun at times.

In the water we will have a mix of S-SW swell (180-210), local WNW windswell, and some new WNW energy (290-300).

Most spots will be in the waist-chest high range. Standout breaks, mostly the good SW facing spots, and more exposed combo breaks will be closer to shoulder high on the sets…maybe even a touch bigger on the tide push.

Winds will be light and variable in the morning with some building NW flow around 10-12 knots by the afternoon.

Looks like the best surf will be in the San Diego and Orange County areas…mostly due to the SW swell in the mix and that they have a little more exposure to the W energy. The northern South Bay, and Southern Ventura should be ok as well but not as consistent in the morning, they should get a bit better in the afternoon as the new WNW swell fills in more. Expect the surf to be similar to Sunday…maybe a bit more consistent at the standouts…and a touch less tide-drained during the dawn patrol.

I think it will be worth checking in the morning…expect to sit around a little bit between sets at times. If you have all day to surf then I would probably check it early…surf if it is good…then maybe get some bacon McMuffin’s (hmmmm)…then surf again after the low tide starts to push back in. (Please note that if you get to do this I will hate you forever…seriously for-ev-er!).