Southern California Long-range Surf Forecast – 6/24/2010

Forecast Overview
- New SW swell mixes with tropical energy from TS Blas on Friday…the surf stays small/playful for most areas but select spots will start to see some bigger surf.
- Saturday the new SW swell will continue to build while new tropical energy from Hurricane Celia starts to arrive at the extremely exposed SE spots.
- Sunday the meat of the new SW swell starts to arrive and Celia’s swell fills in, turning more southerly in the process. Wave heights will increase at most S facing spots with some larger waves at the top S-SE breaks.
- Monday and Tuesday the mix of SSW-SW swell and tropical energy from Hurricane Celia will peak…look for playful/decent sized surf for most of the exposed spots and overhead sets at the standout breaks.

Short Range (next 4 days)

Friday – (On the rise)
Another new S-SW swell (190-210) mixes in with the holding SW energy, the slightly dropping tropical S-SE swell (from TS Blas), and increasing local NW windswell. Most exposed breaks will have surf in the waist-chest high range with some chest-shoulder high sets at the spots that do better on the S swells. The standout S facing spots, particularly the SW exposed beaches and good combo spots, will have chest-shoulder high surf with a chance for a couple of plus sets on the morning tide push. Winds/Weather: Still clean on Friday…light and variable winds on tap for the morning with a couple of weak areas of onshore flow. Onshore texture picks up by midday and we can expect another round of W-WNW winds in the 10-15 knot range by the afternoon.



Saturday – (still building)
The pulse of SW swell (190-210) and steady NW windswell will hold on Saturday while the tropical SE (155-175) swell starts to get overlapping energy from Hurricane Celia. Most spots will continue to hold in the waist-chest high range…with some bigger sets showing at the more exposed SE-SW facing spots. The standout S facing breaks, particularly those that can combo up the mix of swells, will have more consistent chest-shoulder high surf through the morning…and then some head high sets that begin to arrive more frequently throughout the day. Winds/Weather: Winds look light in the morning…maybe a couple of pockets of onshore texture but pretty manageable for most areas. Look for W-WSW winds to increase throughout midday and eventually push onshore in the 12-15+ knot range for the afternoon.



Sunday – (more swell from all over the place)
Sunday’s surf will be on the rise from the get-go…we will have new bigger SW energy (190-215) filling in on the back of the previous Southern Hemi pulse. There will also be more tropical swell from Hurricane Celia…this will still be pretty SE’erly (155-165) but it will be on the rise throughout the day and slowly shifting more southerly. NW windswell will continue to hold on in the background…hopefully with enough energy to break up the other swells. At this point it looks like chest-shoulder high surf for most of the average exposed spots…with sets being a little more consistent at the SW/NW combo spots and the good SE facing breaks. Winds/Weather: Look for light and variable winds in the morning…probably cleaner than the previous couple of days…so a chance for some light offshore in a few spots. Winds come onshore around midday and build out of the WNW at 10-15+ knots for the afternoon.



Monday – (still building)
The SSW-SW swell (190-205) holds on through Monday along with the NW windswell. The S-SE tropical swell (160-175) from Hurricane Celia will continue to build through Monday...eventually peaking later in the afternoon. Look for most spots to average around chest-shoulder high off the mix of swells. Standout S facing spots, and the excellent combo breaks, will see shoulder-head high surf with a few of the really well-exposed SE breaks seeing overhead sets at times throughout the day. Winds/Weather: Look for light and variable winds in the morning with some light offshore flow in a few spots. Winds come onshore around midday and build out of the WNW at 10-15+ knots for the afternoon.



Long-Range

North Pacific
The NPAC is still pretty weaksauce right now…high-pressure continues to block out most of the NE Pacific, which kills any kind of long-period swell production.



There is one low-pressure that moves through the Gulf of Alaska…which doesn’t make any waves for us…but it does erode some of the high-pressure closer to our coast. It does this right as Hurricane Celia moves closer to the mid-latitudes, basically allowing Celia to track a bit more NW, which could be good for swell production (sort of a long-shot).



South Pacific
There will be plenty of Southern Hemi swell on tap for the next several days…and I am seeing another decent-sized pulse starting to brew up in the long-range…so basically the South Pacific continues to run like a well-oiled machine.

Right now we are seeing a little pulse of SW energy…from some scattered storm elements all spinning around New Zealand…these type of swells are notoriously inconsistent because of their swell-decay along the long travel distance, shadowing from the South Pacific Islands, and some blockage by the nearshore islands once they start to arrive in Socal. So this weak little shot of energy is everything that we can expect it to be. We can expect this SW’er to hold into Friday with some waist high waves and occasional chest high sets at the standouts.



The bigger SW swell (200-220) will start to arrive on Saturday (June 26) starting off very SW’erly and a bit inconsistent, which reflects the way the storm moved off New Zealand and began to intensify. This swell will build through Saturday evening, eventually peaking on Sunday and Monday (June 27-28). As this swell peaks we can expect the average SW facing spots to see chest-shoulder high surf with some less consistent head high sets. The standout SW facing breaks, mostly through South OC and parts of San Diego, will have shoulder-head high surf with some inconsistent overhead sets. Look for this swell to start to back off on the 29th…but expect rideable waves from this one hanging on through the end of June.



Further out there is another strong storm forecast to move through our swell window. It has been on the charts for the last few days and the forecasts have slowly improved as we have gotten closer to the storm actually pulling together. The latest forecasts are showing a pretty solid stretch of fetch (see how I did that…str-etch and f-etch…I am master of the English language) forming right in our S swell window…and not just your typical high-latitude storm, it will be an extra-tropical fueled nugget that manages to set up nearly 1200-1500 miles of 30+ knot wind with gusts hitting around 45-50 knots.



All of this wind is forecast to build up 30-35’ seas and push out a good S swell for Southern California (and a larger on for Central America/Mainland Mexico). This new S swell (180-200) would arrive as early as Saturday (July 3) and peak on the 4th of July…with energy sticking around for a few days afterwards. At this point it looks like this swell will be good for chest-shoulder high+ surf for the average S facing spots in California and some overhead sets at the standout breaks.



Things back down in the South Pacific after that storm…but I am still seeing some increasing storm activity under Australia and New Zealand that will likely push out into the South Pacific proper in the next week or so.

Tropics



We have two hurricanes in the East Pacific Tropics, one of which is in the Southern California swell window, and the other is just starting to reach the Baja Sur “SE swell” window.



For Socal Hurricane Celia is the most important at this point. She is a strong (115-knots), well-positioned storm (S-SSE of Socal…right in the 165-175 degree swell window), who is tracking well (WNW at 9-11 knots)…all of which are good things for generating swell. The initial energy from Celia will be arriving over this upcoming weekend...pushing in from the SE (155-165) starting on Saturday. It will be a bit slow and selective at first…but it will continue building and turning more southerly on Sunday, eventually peaking on Monday with plenty of energy showing into Tuesday. Once the swell turns more S (170-180) we can expect the average spots to see shoulder-high+ surf while the S-SE standouts, mostly through Orange County, see some overhead+ sets. This could come in stronger so we are going to want to keep an eye on the buoys and satellite obs as we move into the weekend.



The other system is Hurricane Darby, who has formed just off the coast of Southern Mainland Mexico…and is forecast to putt around in a little circle without making much movement toward the Socal swell window…in fact if it sticks with the current forecast Darby might not even reach the Cabo/Baja Sur swell window all that cleanly. As it is…the immediate nearby region of Southern Mainland Mex, can expect some consistent tropical S swell to mix with the Southern Hemi SW swell that will be hitting over the weekend.

the Next Long-range forecast will be posted on Monday, June 28th, 2010.

Adam Wright
Surf Forecaster
http://www.socalsurf.com/

Southern California Long-range Surf Forecast – 6/21/2010

Forecast Overview
- We will see a mix of small, but playful, NW/SW swells on Tuesday along with cleaner conditions.

- Wednesday will see the same mix hold through the day…and then tropical SE swell (from TS Blas) will start to arrive later in the afternoon.

- Thursday the surf mostly holds, but new SW energy and peaking Blas swell will help to improve consistency at the best S facing breaks.

- Friday our mix of swells will continue to increase as more SW energy arrives and helps to drive up the surf.

- By the weekend we can expect more SW swell, more tropical swell (from Hurricane Celia), and some more NW windswell...looks like overhead surf for the top S facing spots and by Sunday/Monday.

Short Range (next 4 days)

Tuesday – (playful leftovers)
Tuesday looks surfable…nothing special overall…but rideable with some semi-clean conditions in the morning. We will have a mix of backing off WNW-NW windswell, some inconsistent S-SW swell (190-210), and a trace of SE tropical swell from TS Blas that arrives late in the day. Most spots will average in the waist high range while the better S-SW facing breaks see some chest high sets. The standout combo spots that work well on the SW and NW energy will be in the waist-chest high range with some shoulder high sets. Winds/Weather: Winds look decent for the morning…still a touch of eddy in the morning but winds should remain below 2-3 knots. Look for W-NW winds around 8-10 knots for the afternoon.



Wednesday – (new tropical SE swell)
New tropical SE swell (155-165) from Tropical Storm Blas will move in on Wednesday and mix with some inconsistent S-SW swell (190-220) from the Southern Hemisphere. Remnant NW windswell will stay pretty small. Average spots with just SW exposure will be in the waist high range with some inconsistent chest high sets. The standout S facing break that have SE exposure (and no shadowing issues) will be running more consistently around chest high with a few more shoulder high sets showing as the tropical swell mixes in and peaks. Winds/Weather: Clean conditions on tap for Wednesday. Light and variable winds for most areas early…even a touch offshore in a few areas near passes and canyons. Look for W winds around 10-15 knots moving back in by the afternoon.



Thursday – (a touch more juice)
The mix of S-SW swell (190-220) will come up a notch on Thursday while the tropical SSE-SE swell (160-175) and the local windswell hold sizes. Most spots will continue to see waist high surf with some chest high sets mixing in. The standout S-facing spots with decent SW and SE exposure will be in the chest high+ range with some shoulder high sets sneaking in on the lower tides. Winds/Weather: Still clean on Thursday. Light and variable winds on tap for the morning. W winds around 10-15 knots will push back in by the afternoon.



Friday – (On the rise)
Another new S-SW swell (190-210) mixes in with the holding SW energy, the slightly dropping tropical S-SE swell (from TS Blas still), and increasing local NW windswell. Most exposed breaks will have surf in the waist-chest high range with some chest-shoulder high sets at the spots that do better on the S swells. The standout S facing spots, particularly the SW exposed beaches and good combo spots, will have chest-shoulder high surf…with some inconsistent head high sets showing on the lower tides. Winds/Weather: Still clean on Friday…light and variable to light-offshore winds on tap for the morning. Onshore texture picks up by midday and we can expect another round of W-WNW winds in the 10-15 knot range by the afternoon.



Long-Range

North Pacific
Pretty quiet in the North Pacific right now. There is one storm moving through the upper latitudes that will send some swell to Northern California, but it is positioned poorly for Socal. On the good side it looks like the NW winds along our coast will be backing off by midweek (Wednesday June 23) which will finally start to ease off the eddy.



With the winds dropping off we can expect the WNW-NW windswell to back off as well…we will see some remnant leftovers through the end of the week…but it will likely return next week as those outer-water winds strengthen once again.

South Pacific
The SPAC continues to hum along…plenty of storm activity moving through the storm track, which is kicking out a bunch of overlapping S-SW swells. Most of these swells will be in the “playful” size range but there is a solid looking one that will arrive this upcoming weekend and hold waves into early next week.



So for the next few days we can expect some minor S-SW pulses (190-220) that will keep us in small, but rideable, waist-chest high surf through the end of the week. Things get a little bigger and more consistent on Friday as some new SW energy (210-220) moves in as a precursor to the larger SW swell that arrives over the weekend.



The bigger SW swell (200-220) will start to arrive on Saturday (June 26) starting off very SW’erly and a bit inconsistent, which reflects the way the storm moved off New Zealand and began to intensify. This swell will build through Saturday evening, eventually peaking on Sunday and Monday (June 27-28). As this swell peaks we can expect the average SW facing spots to see chest-shoulder high surf with some less consistent head high sets. The standout SW facing breaks, mostly through South OC and parts of San Diego, will have shoulder-head high surf with some inconsistent overhead sets. Look for this swell to start to back off on the 29th…but expect rideable waves from this one hanging on through the end of June.



Further out there is another strong storm forecast to move through our swell window. This one is just starting to pull together and the real wave-making is still about 4-5 days out. If this can hold together we should see another round of head high/overhead sized SSW swell heading our way for around the 4-5th of July.

Tropics



The tropics are rocking…we have had 2 named storms develop over the weekend…TD Blas had reached “strong” tropical storm strength as he moved into our swell window on Sunday and though he has weakened back to a tropical depression we can expect some waves from him…those will be arriving over the next few days (so you can check the short-range for details on his tropical swell).



The second storm, Hurricane Celia, is tracking through the Baja Sur/Cabo SE swell window…with some of her waves starting to filter into those beaches already this afternoon (right on the tail of Blas tropical swell). She hasn’t quite reached Socal’s swell window, but forecasts have her tracking toward it, possibly moving into a wave-making position by late Wednesday/early Thursday. Forecasts also have her maintain her hurricane strength as she clears the Baja swell shadow, which means we should see a bigger tropical SE swell heading our way for the 26-27th. (remember there is a SW swell filling at the same time). At this point it looks like we should see some chest-head high surf at the better SE facing spots and some shoulder-head high+ surf at the standouts.

Further out…there is yet another bunch of thunderstorms a few hundred miles South of El Salvador…there is a good chance that these will get more organized over the next day or so and we could be looking at another named storm by later this week. Good times…

the Next Long-range forecast will be posted on Thursday, June 24th, 2010.

Adam Wright
Surf Forecaster
http://www.socalsurf.com/

Waves for the weekend – Playful and a touch cleaner

Hey gang....I am going to be away from the computer for a few days (non surf related) so this forecast is going out a bit early. The forecast will be back to its regularly scheduled randomness on Monday. Here are the nuts and bolts for the next few days.

Saturday

Saturday is looking like a surf day...nothing stellar...but cleaner than what we had at the end of the week.

We are going to see a mix of holding SW swell (200-220), steady WNW windswell, and peaking SE swell (160-175+180) from Tropical Storm Dolores.

Average spots will be waist-chest high with some plus sets at the better combo spots and SE facing breaks. Top spots, particularly the good combo breaks, and the best SE facing spots, will be around chest-shoulder high...maybe even a couple of bigger waves on the lower tides. Looks like the biggest surf will be in the summer San Diego areas, Orange County summer standouts, and the better spots in North LA. (sort of what you should expect from SE-SW swells).



Winds will be cleaner in the morning...more light and variable conditions early but with a few pockets of bump here and there at the more exposed beaches. WNW winds around 10-15 knots move in through the afternoon.

Saturday Tides
01:33AM LDT -0.2 L
08:08AM LDT 3.2 H
12:02PM LDT 2.5 L
06:32PM LDT 6.1 H

Sunday and Monday

The mix of SW and WNW swell backs down slowly while the tropical SE swell drops out pretty fast.

Wave heights will continue in the waist-chest high range for many of the average spots...less consistent than Saturday. Top spots still see some chest-shoulder high sets but again the bigger sets will be less consistent. Expect smaller and less consistent surf on Monday.



Winds look clean in the morning on both days...light and variable with a hint of onshore flow through the early morning. WNW winds build in through midday and peak around 10-15 knots by the afternoon.

Here are the tides for Sunday/Monday

Sunday Tides
02:19AM LDT -0.8 L
08:50AM LDT 3.5 H
01:08PM LDT 2.3 L
07:26PM LDT 6.5 H

Monday Tides
03:03AM LDT -1.2 L
09:28AM LDT 3.7 H
02:05PM LDT 2.1 L
08:16PM LDT 6.9 H

Have a great weekend everyone!

Swell Alert - Hurricane Norbert sending SE swell to SoCal

I am getting sort of sick of this storm...but fortunately I don't think I will have to issue too many more forecasts for Norbert. Looks like Norbert is finally starting to dial into a more consistent forecast track and some of the bigger differences between the models have started to resolve, which is just "fancy speak" for we now have a better idea of what this storm is going to do and how strong it will be when it does.


just waiting to f%#k up Baja Sur

They have revised the storm strength back to a Cat-3...sort of in the middle of the Cat-3 range. It is sort of hard to tell if the NHC has just downgraded winds or if the storm has weakened...there is actually a pretty big difference when it comes the swell it creates. Weakening storms are never good, even if they are just barely weakening compared to sustained wind speeds. Anyway, despite the wind difference there is going to be some surf from ol Norbie...so we can plan on riding some waves.



Currently Norbert is about 300 miles SSW of the tip of Baja and is moving NW around 8-10 knots with wind speeds holding around 100-knots and gusts topping out around 120-knots. Right now the combination of Norbert's storm track and intensity as well as movement speed are all pretty good for swell production. I still wish he was either further west or was planning on spending more time in our swell window.

Unfortunately the SE swell direction (160-165 degrees) that Norbert will be sending us swell from is a pretty steep angle...it is one of those angles that really "warps the perception" of the swell since the exposed spots have the potential for large surf while the lesser exposed breaks will be considerably smaller. If you pick the wrong spot you could be very left out.

I never really want to name spots since I like to surf uncrowded waves as much as the next guy but I do want to give you guys a chance at finding waves. So check out this very simple map that sort of highlights what areas will be the most exposed to the SE swell. Green is good, Red still gets waves, and areas without any coloring are sort of screwed (from a tropical swell perspective...there will be some SSW swell and WNW energy out there too so it won't be totally flat or anything).



At this point we can expect new tropical energy to start arriving on the buoys late in the evening on Friday and then on our beaches on Saturday. The Peak of the SE swell will hit Saturday afternoon and hold through Sunday before starting to slowly back off as we head into next week.

Sizewise we can expect areas with average exposure to this swell, spots in Ventura, parts of N. Los Angeles, S. Orange County, and a few in N. San Diego, to see consistent tropical waves in the shoulder-head high and sometimes overhead range. Standout SE facing breaks in North Orange County and a few other select areas will have surf going overhead to well-overhead on sets...with the potential for some of the top breaks to near double-overhead on the biggest sets.

Remember if you are looking for larger surf it is important to pick a well exposed break...there is going to be a very big size difference as you move from the top exposed breaks down to less exposed ones.

Oh and winds are looking a bit funky for Saturday (much cleaner on Sunday)...I will give you a better update on Conditions tomorrow.

Monday’s Surf – Still plenty of waves with only a 100th of the crowd.

Monday will be a surf day…and since the weekend is over and, in my neck of the woods, the US Open is over, the crowd size should drop nicely.

There will still be a decent mix of swell in the water on Monday…we are going to have peaking S-SE swell from Hurricane Genevieve, fading SSW swell from the southern hemisphere, and some minor local windswell.

Average S exposed spots will continue to see surf in the chest-high+ range on the sets. Standout S-SE facing areas, particularly in North Orange County, will have consistent shoulder-head high sets with some overhead sets mixing in at the top breaks.

We should have clean conditions in the morning…at least the forecasts are calling for light winds below 10 knots. Still there is a chance for a bit of an eddy to spin up…so keep an eye on the winds in the morning…we might have some southerly texture or bump to a few of the more exposed breaks.

I think that we will have plenty of waves for most areas (except in SB and some of the shadowed areas of the South Bay). It will be biggest in North OC, but still fun in North San Diego, and Northern LA County. From just watching a few sets roll through HB on Sunday I can see that there is not much crossing up this tropical swell/SSW swell mix…so the beach breaks are going to be a bit walled. Look for the best shape at the points and reefs hiding out in the areas I mentioned.

Waves for the Weekend - Lots of waves...plan on surfing

This will be a surf weekend with plenty of waves coming through both on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday we will see a mix of new SSW swell, some slowly building tropical SE swell, and it looks like a touch more local WNW windswell. Wave heights are going to be pretty similar to Friday...so lots of the average spots will be around chest-shoulder high. The standout S facing breaks, mostly through North Orange County, will be in the shoulder-head high range with some bigger overhead sets sneaking through on the tide push.

Sunday the mix of swells will continue to push through similar sizes...but the SE tropical swell should actually start to strengthen by the afternoon (and hold into Monday). This swell will be aimed pretty SE at first but it does gradually turn more southward on Monday which will help a few more spots start to work.

Winds look good for the next couple of mornings...but sort of breezy by the afternoons. Plan on light and variable winds...with a little southerly texture at the more exposed breaks...early in the mornings. Afternoons will see W winds around 10-12+ knots with some areas seeing some 15-knot+ gusts.

There won't really be much of a change in the "best bets" this weekend...if you scored some surf over the last couple of days then I would check those same spots on both Saturday and Sunday. I would look for North OC (meaning surf areas North of Laguna Beach) will be the biggest this weekend...due mostly to its exposure to the tropical hurricane swells. I don't really think it will be worth driving around a ton though...there will be enough waves in the other regions (except maybe Santa Barbara and the deep South Bay area) to have some fun. Here I made a handy map as a reference guide to what I am talking about. See the subtle notes in red.



Remember that North OC will be teaming with a retarded amount of surfing talent this weekend as well thanks to the US Open of Surfing...and all of the pros, pro-wannabes, has-beens, sponsor reps, and Red Bull Girls that come with it. If you are into the contest scene or just like to watch freaky people...then I would recommend checking out the contest finals on Sunday.

Oh and as I proved earlier this week...stay on the lookout for overly amorous dolphins!

TS Genevieve - total underachiever

I was checking out Genevieve...our only still active tropical storm in the EPAC...and it is still hard to get a read on her.

The National Hurricane Center has increased her intensity but hasn't quite pushed her into actual hurricane strength. At the same time she is showing some good rotation and a well-defined eye-wall on the latest satellite photos. Likely she is teetering on the edge between storm and hurricane.

She has moved into our swell window...but her track is still out west...and she is expected to start to weaken over the next few days. She isn’t the biggest storm either, which doesn't help swell production.

Here check out this sat photo and you can get a better "big-picture" perspective of her size.



Based on timing it looks like we are going to see some tropical swell from Genevieve arrive in SoCal over the weekend. There will be a slight pick-up in SE energy later on Saturday with the bulk of the SE swell (that slowly turns more southerly) arriving on Sunday.

At this point I am not expecting much over chest-shoulder high for the better spots...maybe a few bigger waves at the standouts. It will be in the 10-12 second period range so even the top spots will be sort of gutless and windswelly. Fortunately we will have some more SSW southern hemi swell on tap so we might see a halfway decent cross-up at the combo breaks.

Thursday's Surf - I like waves

Thursday will be a surf day.

I actually got a few waves during lunch on Wednesday...surfed Northside HB around the Taco Bell reef...and there was some legit size coming in from the mix of SE Fausto swell and the new SSW'er coming in from the SPAC. It was still pretty walled and yet sort of soft at the same time, even the bigger overhead+ sets were on the gutless side (it was high tide)...and the current really blew but it wasn't any worse that I was expecting. The water was super warm too...and me being the genius that I am I left my trunks at home and brought my fullsuit. Yes this is the same suit that I surf in all winter. I basically got to be big-sweaty-gringo and tried to give myself heatstroke in near 68-70 degree water while floating down the beach pulling into close-out left after close-out left. Not the most fun...but it beats sitting at a desk. Next time I will just wear this it should be cooler.



Anyway...enough about my brilliance back to the forecast...Thursday will be plenty surfable with a lot of waves still coming through. We will have a mix of fading Fausto swell, SSW energy from the Southern Hemi, and some slowly increasing local windswell. At this point it looks like the Fausto swell will hang on...it will be past its peak but there should still be some size in the morning on the tide push. Expect it to bleed out as we head through the afternoon.

Most S exposed breaks will continue to see chest-shoulder high surf...a few of the better SW facing standouts (not exposed to the SE swell) will have some head high sets mixing in on the lower tides.

Top S facing spots, again mostly in North Orange County, will have more consistent shoulder-head high sets...and even a few overhead waves in the morning.

Winds look ok...mostly light and variable through the morning and then moderate W around 10-12+15 knots by the afternoon.

The best bets are pretty similar to Wednesday's spots...if you found fun surf on Wednesday you should go back on Thursday. Stick with the better exposed S facing breaks...particularly ones that like to focus the shorter-period tropical swell. Points and reefs will have the best shape (and the most crowds)...but you can still have some fun at the beach breaks if they a good solid sandbar...or some jetties, or a pier, or some sort of random shipwreck or something.

Wednesday’s Surf – More S, SE, and SW swell

Wednesday will be a surf day…particularly at the S-SE facing breaks through SoCal, especially those in Orange County.

We will have new tropical SE swell showing from Fausto, at the same time we have fading energy from the S swell that hit over the weekend, and we are going to see a mix of new SW swell (and some local NW windswell) help to round us out tomorrow.

Average spots with some S swell exposure will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some inconsistent head high sets. Better spots with exposure to more of the swell mix will see more consistent shoulder-head high surf with some head high+ waves on the inconsistent sets. Standout surf breaks, mostly in Orange County (North OC that is), will be consistently in the shoulder-overhead range with a few sets going a couple of feet+ overhead on the larger sets. The standout breaks will be the ones that can really focus the shorter period SE swells as well as pull in energy from the S-SW.

Winds are forecast to be similar to Tuesday…so while they will be light/variable in the morning they will have a mostly onshore flow. Look for a little texture/lump to some of the more exposed breaks in San Diego and Orange County…and cleaner conditions as you move northward into LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara. (Don’t go to SB though…not much surf going to show up that way).

Really I think your best bet will be the more classic hurricane swell spots of Orange County. It isn’t going to be massive…or even have all that great shape…but it will be consistently bigger than other spots. If you don’t feel like the drive then I would suggest the better S-SE facing points and reefs hidden in the exposed areas…they are going to hold shape a lot better than the beach breaks and you may even get a little less current to paddle against.