Monday’s Waves – South Swell is a good way to start the week.

Monday will be a surf day.

More S-SSW swell (180-200) moves in and mixes with the already healthy shot of S-SW swell that we had hit over the weekend. The new S-SSW’er will still be showing mostly long-period energy in the morning, which if it had been the only swell in the water would have made for some long waits and funky exposure as the swell bent/refracted around things. As it is…the other swells are more in the medium-period range, which will really flesh out the surf. We can expect the S facing spots to see a steady stream of S-swell lines as we move throughout the day and things should even get a touch bigger at the end of the day as the new S-SSW swell fills in more.

Get the full forecast here...trust me it will feel so natural in a couple more weeks.

http://surf.solspot.com/content/solspot/adam-wright/monday%E2%80%99s-waves-%E2%80%93-south-swell-is-a-good-way-to-start-the-week

Waves for the Weekend – S swell peaks but we may have some more eddy

Both Saturday and Sunday will have plenty of southern hemi swell but local eddy winds may keep things from getting super clean. Expect surfable shape but with a touch of texture to bump to it at times.

The new S swell (180-200) that has been moving in here on Friday will continue to hold/peak overnight in Saturday.



Look for the average spots to see surf in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high+ sets showing at breaks with a little better exposure to the southerly swell. Top S facing breaks, mostly through Orange County, will have some shoulder-overhead surf with some sets going a couple of feet+ overhead at times. A few of the breaks that can focus the S swell will be bigger on the lower tides.

Winds look ok…sort of light/variable with some pockets of eddyish texture here and there for the morning. Expect WNW-W winds around 10-14 knots to build in through the afternoon.



Sunday the S swell (180-200) will start to back off while the local NW windswell pushes in a little more size.



Look for the average S facing spots to see surf in the chest-shoulder high+ range with a few head high+ sets still showing through the morning. The standout S spots will be in the shoulder-overhead range with a few bigger sets still going a couple of feet+ overhead at times.

Winds still sort of ok/marginal on Sunday…looks like mostly light winds in the morning but there will be a few areas that pull in variable onshore texture at times. Look for these winds to shift more firmly to the West building up to the 10-15knot range for the afternoon.



I think this weekend is going to be a little challenging in terms of finding “good” surf…there will be crowds, the winds won’t be all that cooperative, and the tide swings are pretty funky…all of which just shorten our surf window. However, I do think that if you pick the right spot and head down to the beach with your mental state/expectations in the right place you will be able to find plenty of waves and probably be even be able to dig some fun out of what we have going conditionswise. Points and reefs are going to probably be the best call…the S swell won’t have much to break it up, particularly on Saturday, so we are going to need some sort of reef/point to help shape the wave. If you are looking for smaller waves, stick to the NW facing breaks…they will be more in the weak playful size range.

Here are the tides…hope you get a few.

05/15/2010 Saturday
05:10AM LDT -1.0 L
11:37AM LDT 3.4 H
04:07PM LDT 2.1 L
10:19PM LDT 6.0 H

05/16/2010 Sunday
05:56AM LDT -1.0 L
12:31PM LDT 3.3 H
04:50PM LDT 2.2 L
11:03PM LDT 5.8 H

Friday’s Surf – New S swell grinds in

Friday is looking like a surf day…but if you are looking for bigger surf you will need to hit up a S-facing beach (with no islands in the way).

We will see our new S-SSW swell (180-200) filling in fast on Friday…with the peak of the swell starting to hit later in the afternoon and holding overnight into Saturday. Small NW windswell will run in the background but don’t expect it to amount to very much. Check out the swell and how it fills in throughout the day…

Friday Morning


Friday Midday


Friday Afternoon


Sizewise…for the morning I am looking for the average S facing spots to be in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high sets becoming more and more common as we get closer to lunchtime. The standout S facing spots will be in the shoulder-head high+ range pretty consistently through the morning and then will start going overhead to a few feet overhead by the end of the day. Again remember that spots that can focus this long-period energy will have a shot at getting some solid surf showing before sunset.

Winds look good on Friday…mostly light and variable through the morning with a few pockets of light offshore winds near passes and canyons and light onshore winds at a few of the most exposed breaks. Look for winds to shift more onshore around lunchtime…eventually reaching the 10-13 knot range at the more wind-prone spots.



Plenty of S swell showing on Friday, even if the swell isn’t peaking until later in the day…unfortunately for the beach breaks there isn’t much in the background that will be able to break up the Southern Hemi lines…so a lot of spots will get a bit walled as this swell starts to really fill in. Points and reefs will have the best shape, but you might be able to find a manageable shoulder off the various structures out there (piers/jetties/rocks)…if you don’t have a point/reef nearby I would check those sort of spots before hitting the wide open sandbars. Expect some decent current to work against, particularly as the tide fills in.

Here are the tides…hope you get a few.

05/14/2010 Friday
04:28AM LDT -0.9 L
10:48AM LDT 3.5 H
03:31PM LDT 1.9 L
09:40PM LDT 6.0 H

Surf for Friday – more S swell

Friday will be another surf day but, like Thursday, you are going to have to battle it out at the points and reefs if you want quality surf.

That S-SSW swell (180-210) will continue to peak on Friday and mix with just some minimal NW windswell.

Most spots will have surf in the chest-shoulder high+ range with some head high sets. The top S facing spots, mostly through OC, SD, and North LA, will have more consistent shoulder-head high surf with overhead+ sets mixing in at times. Look for some occasionally bigger waves at those spots that really focus S swells.

Winds look sort of borderline tomorrow...not good but not horrible either. We should have light/variable to light-S flow for the morning. Winds should generally be below 5-8 knots but there may be some texture to it. Look for SW-W winds to develop through the afternoon and come onshore around 10-15+20 knots in the more exposed areas. If you are in the right spot (IE protected from the S winds) you might even be able to pick off some cleaner conditions.



Points and reefs are going to be the call again on Friday...beach breaks are going to continue to be walled up, sectiony, and have a decent current running at times. The beach breaks will have some occasional corners...so don’t count them completely out...I just wouldn’t count on them to be very fun. Expect some bigger crowds at the spots that can hold the swell better. The high tide hits around 9-10am tomorrow so there might be a little more of a tide-friendly surf window during the dawn patrol...but don’t expect it to last long.

Here are the tides...

03:32AM LDT -0.6 L
09:37AM LDT 4.0 H
03:04PM LDT 1.1 L
09:09PM LDT 5.9 H

Waves for the Weekend – SW swell holds while new NW swell starts to arrive

It is going to be a surf weekend. We are going to have a mix of SW and WNW swell, warm weather, light to light-offshore winds, (and probably plenty of crowded lineups to go along with it).

Our surf will be a mix of SW swell (190-210), that holds into Saturday before slowly fading out on Sunday, and small WNW energy that sort of hangs around through Saturday but increases as a new WNW pulse (290-300) starts to hit the northern counties (Ventura and LA) on Sunday before finally pushing into OC and SD later Sunday evening (and holding into Monday).

Here is a shot of the swell mix from this afternoon…you have to love SW swells sometimes.



And here is a shot of the CDIP forecast for the next few days…yes the sideways images are always annoying but once you get oriented you can see where the swell mix shows a bit better.



On Saturday average spots see chest-high+ surf while the average SW facing breaks see chest-head high waves. Standout SW facing breaks in Orange County and North San Diego will have some overhead faces through the morning.

Sunday will start out a little slower…more in the waist-chest high range at the average spots. A little bigger at the average SW facing breaks and close to shoulder high+ at the standout combo breaks. Looks like a few of top combo spots could see some chest-head high faces on the bigger sets in the afternoon (if you can find a spot not buried by the tide).

Winds look good for both days…look for light/variable to light offshore flow for the mornings and light/moderate onshore bump for the more exposed breaks through the afternoons.

I wish that there was a bit more WNW energy pushing through over the weekend…or at least the swell we are seeing would come in a bit more westerly. As it is…it looks like the SW swell is going to stay pretty lined up at the beach breaks…so we can expect some hollow but mostly closed out lefts marching down the beach. Points and reefs are going to have much better shape but since the beach breaks are sort of a lost cause it looks like the other spots are going to get pretty slammed crowdwise. I would plan on it being a bit frustrating at times.

Personally I am holding out some hope for Sunday/Monday. With a little luck the new WNW pulse will be strong enough to break up the fading SW’er…I don’t know about you but I am willing to sacrifice a little size to get a (mostly) uncrowded peak on a beach break somewhere…who knows maybe you like closeout lefts and crowded pointbreaks, you freak.

Have a great weekend!

Oh here are the tides...

Saturday
01:23AM 0.5’ Low
07:39AM 5.4’ High
02:03PM 0.8’ Low
07:50PM 4.7’ High

Sunday
01:54AM 0.8’ Low
08:04AM 5.7’ High
02:42PM 0.3’ Low
08:35PM 4.5’ High