Tuesday’s Surf – Playful peaks and a fun swell combo

Tuesday will be another surf day.

We are going to have a mix of S-SSW energy from the southern hemisphere, some tropical S-SW energy from former Hurricane Hernan, and a punchy local W-NW windswell.

Most spots will be in the waist-chest high range...even the windswell spots.

The standout combo breaks and top S facing breaks, mostly in Orange County and North San Diego, will see consistent chest-shoulder high surf with some inconsistent head high sets.

The surf will sort of be like this CDIP model….with a bit more SSW energy from the South Pacific.



Winds and weather look pretty good tomorrow as well…mostly light and variable winds through the morning with a couple of spots with light texture. W winds around 10-12 knots for the afternoon…and possibly lighter winds setting up again late in the evening.

I think that the combo beach breaks will be the most fun on Tuesday…they were pretty playful on Monday off a similar mix of swell…I think it will carry overnight. Points and reefs should continue to be fun as well but maybe a little more sectiony and broken up thanks to the mix of swells.

Surf for Tuesday - Fun but with some windswell funk to it

Tuesday is looking like a surf day but shape will be on the questionable side.

In the water we are going to see a mix of leftover SW energy from the weekend and a decent sized dose (at least for this time of year) of WNW windswell. Most of the average breaks will see surf in the waist-chest high range. Standout WNW windswell spots and good combo breaks that can still pull in some of the flagging SW energy will have surf in the chest to inconsistent shoulder high range.

Winds are forecast to be light and variable in the morning but expect a little bit of morning sickness and light onshore bump for the more exposed breaks (yeah at the breaks that will have the most size). W winds build in pretty strong in the afternoon and will top out around 15+ knots with plenty of whitecaps.

I think it will be a fun surf day tomorrow but thanks to the conditions and nature of the swell I also think you are going to need to approach it with an open mind. Most of our surf is going to come from the W-WNW windswell...notoriously these swells don't have a lot of push behind them, they are usually pretty stacked up, break close to shore, and are sort of all over the place.

You are going to want to hit up spots that are either really fun on windswells or can pull in a little of the leftover SW energy to break it up. The biggest waves will be through San Diego but it won't be worth driving that far to try and get surf...it would be a better choice to hit up your local combo break, particularly the good sandbars at the exposed beach breaks, as the tide is filling in during the morning...that way you can make the most of the mixed bag of swell before the onshore winds get too bad of a a jump on it.

Check out this CDIP model from Monday afternoon...you can see how steep the NW windswell is...and where it is sneaking around the corner of Point Conception.

Get some surf this weekend...

Saturday and Sunday look like they could be more fun than forecasts were originally predicting.

Winds are expected to lay down fast late on Friday night and it looks like light to possibly even light-offshore winds could set up early on Saturday.

Since the W windswell will be up and a new small SW swell will be moving in as well...I would look for the best surf at spots that can pull in the combo of swells...particularly breaks that may have a little protection from leftover morning sickness. Beach breaks with jetties or piers will likely be pretty fun.

One thing to watch out for is cold water...all the wind will have set up some chilly upwelling.

Have a good weekend...I'll probably see you in the water.