Wednesday’s Surf – A little cleaner with more SW swell

Wednesday looks like a surf day…with more swell and some cleaner conditions.

Look for yet another SW swell (200-220) to move in and peak on Wednesday combining its energy with the SW swell from the weekend and the small local WNW windswell.

Most of the average SW facing spots will see more chest-shoulder high surf with some shoulder-high+ sets sneaking through on the better tides. The standout SW facing breaks…mostly the South Orange County and Northern San Diego top surf spots…will continue to see shoulder-overhead sets with some bigger waves mixing in inconsistently. The strictly NW facing breaks will have a mix of weak windswell with some knee-waist high+ sets.

Here is the latest CDIP model…tomorrow will look a lot like this. One thing that you need to remember on a chart like this is that the model is showing what I generally call deepwater swell (even though the water isn’t that deep)…basically this is energy that hasn’t moved into the final phases of shoaling. So even though the chart is showing 2-3’+ of SW swell (with the long 17-18 second periods) that energy, at top spots that can focus the swell, will double in size (and sometimes go even bigger). So 2-3’ of deepwater swell at the 17-18 second period range can potentially be a 6-7’ wave-face at those focal breaks.



Winds are forecast to start out light and variable through the morning…I would still expect a little bit of funkiness to the really open breaks but in general it will be cleaner than the last couple of days. W winds will get a jump on it by midmorning and will eventually top out near 10-15 knots by the afternoon.

I think that the points and reefs of San Diego and OC will be the best call on Wednesday…they will have the most size, the most consistency, and since the winds are forecast to back off they should have a bit cleaner conditions than early this week. I think that it may be worth driving a little further than you usually do to try and score a few bigger sets but I still wouldn’t waste a ton of gas…there will still be plenty of playful surf at the SW facing standouts in the other areas as well (just not as big). Beach breaks will still be a bit walled up…and the ones that have some cross up swell to break up the bigger SW lines may have a bit too much water moving around (that isn’t explaining it very well…just think of being a little too jumbled up but without a lot of wind on it).

Random Morning Update: Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Hey gang I hope you all had a good weekend drinking green beer…(I know I did, which is probably why I am finally getting around to posting an update this morning…hahaha)

Anyway the surf has made a major clean-up from the weekend this morning and while it is still looking a little windswelly shapewise it is definitely surfable.

Our swell is a mix of WNW energy, part storm swell, part longer-period windswell. Most exposed breaks throughout the region are running in the shoulder high+ range. Standout breaks, mostly in San Diego, Southern Ventura, and the South Bay, are seeing consistent overhead sizes. San Diego in particular is going a couple of feet plus overhead, which is testament to the steeper NW swell angle that is skipping past a lot of breaks. (Northern Baja will also be pretty good size…probably bigger than SD in a lot of places).

Shape is pretty dumpy, stacked up, and a bit crumbly despite light offshore winds…it is just the shorter period swell more than anything.

These waves won’t last that long…it should be dropping fast by this afternoon…so if you don’t mind the lumpy, sectiony shape, and the super cold water (thanks to the upwelling over the weekend)…then I would try and get on it.