Waves for Wednesday – a little smaller and now with new forecasts!

Wednesday will be rideable (in places)…but again the high tide and mostly leftover swell mix will keep it from being much of a surf day.

In the water we are going to see a mix of fading NW energy (290-300), some minor pulses from the SW (200-220), and a touch of local NW windswell that will creep into exposed spots by the afternoon.



Wave heights are going to average in the knee high range for most of the average spots…though a few of the better-than-average breaks may pull in some waist high sets on the lower tides. Standout NW facing spots and the good combo breaks, mostly in San Diego, will be in the waist high range with some inconsistent chest high sets. Expect some long waits between waves even at the top spots. Also the tide is going to be a bit of a pain…the 6’+ high tide peaks right around 9am and it will do its best to swamp out rideable shape almost everywhere.

Winds look ok in the morning, not great, just ok. Overall I think we are going to see light and variable conditions for most areas during the dawn patrol…maybe a few pockets of bump here and there as some patchy fog moves around the coast. W winds around 10-knots will push in around lunchtime and should be getting into the 10-15 knot range later in the evening. Here is a shot from the COAMPS model…it is still pretty confident that winds will be light (even light-offshore in some places for the morning)…but I think that may be a bit optimistic considering the fog (and the weird fog winds that usually come along with it).



With our swell mix on the weak side, and the stupid high tide steamrolling through midmorning, I don’t think you should spend lot of time trying to get waves tomorrow. If you absolutely have to surf, try and get out early while the winds are still light and the tide hasn’t come up too far…it won’t be very good but at least you’ll have a shot at getting some rideable waves.

Hey gang…check it out…I set up some new forecast pages for each of the SoCal counties. These forecasts are going to be dialed in better for each region, with local tides, local wave heights as well as winds and conditions. They may be a little more bare-bones at first as I get into the groove of setting them up. I will continue to post the more detailed overview and the Long-Range Surf Forecast for all of Socal on this lovely page.

Here are the links for each of the regions...I am still working out some of the links and formatting issues but they are up and running. Let me know what you think.

Santa Barbara - http://socalforecastsb.blogspot.com/
Ventura - http://socalforecastven.blogspot.com/
Los Angeles - http://socalforecastla.blogspot.com/
Orange County - http://socalforecastoc.blogspot.com/
San Diego - http://socalforecastsd.blogspot.com/

And finally here are the tides…

02:40AM LST 2.1 L
08:52AM LST 6.3 H
04:23PM LST -0.7 L
10:50PM LST 3.6 H

Waves for the weekend – Fun but foggy

Saturday and Sunday both look like surf days…but you might have to push through some fog to get waves.

We are going to have a mix of fun surf over the weekend as we see a combination of overlapping S-SW swells blending with more NW swell. It won’t be huge or anything but the well exposed areas can expect some shoulder-head high sets as the swells mix together.



On Saturday we are going to see a mix of building S-SW swell (190-210), holding NW leftovers, and a new long-period NW swell (290-300) fill in later in the afternoon/evening.

Saturday’s wave heights will average in the waist-chest high range at most of the “sort-of” exposed breaks. The top S-SW facing spots and the good southerly orientated combo spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range on most of the sets…but with a few head high waves sneaking through on the biggest ones.

By Sunday the NW swell (290-300) will peak and mix with some holding S-SW swells (190-210) and a touch of local windswell.

Sunday’s surf will hit slightly different from Saturday…look for the new NW swell (290-300) to fill in and peak…pushing the NW facing spots into the waist-chest high+ range and the NW standouts (mostly in Ventura and San Diego) into the chest-shoulder high+ sizes. The top NW facing combo spots will be a touch bigger…with more consistent big sets in the shoulder-head high range. The S facing breaks will lose a little bit of size…but overall will continue to see playful waist-chest high waves at the better exposed areas.

Winds look good for the weekend…mostly light and variable to light offshore for most spots. Looks like offshore mostly in the Santa Barbara/Ventura/North LA areas…and then mostly variable as you move down into OC/San Diego. Afternoon winds will stay on the light side…holding out of the W-WNW around 10-12 knots.

Saturday Morning


Sunday Morning


Fog will be an issue throughout the weekend…so expect limited visibility through the mornings.



So like I said…plenty of playful sized fall surf on tap for the weekend. Nothing outstanding, but enough to get out and ride. The fog is a bit of a bummer…but if you don’t mind using some of your Surf-Jedi powers it shouldn’t be too bad. It is sort of a hard call for the best-bet spots this weekend…a lot depends on how your local spots pull in the various swells…I think that Saturday will see the best shape at the points/reefs, with fun, but slightly sectiony shape at the beach breaks. Sunday will have a chance at more crossed up surf with the building NW swell, which could groom out a few more shoulders at the beach breaks.

Here are the tides…have a great weekend!

Saturday
07:07AM LDT 3.6 H
10:21AM LDT 3.4 L
04:02PM LDT 4.3 H

Sunday
12:06AM LDT 0.8 L
07:19AM LDT 3.7 H
11:58AM LDT 3.1 L
05:24PM LDT 4.4 H

Surf for New Years day – Happy New Year!

There were a few rideable windswell peaks on Wednesday…nothing exciting but not flat either. Looks like 2009 is going to start off with some pretty similar conditions.

All in all it looks like Thursday is going to be rideable…again not what I would call a “surf day” but it is a holiday, and if you don’t mind the fog, there are definitely worse ways to spend it that floating around picking off a few knee-waist high lines.

We are going to see the same mix of local WNW-NW windswell and some background energy from the WNW/SW from further away storms. Most spots will continue to see the knee-high waves with some bigger sets. Standout spots, mostly Ventura, The South Bay, and San Diego, will have some waist high surf with waist-high+ sets. Shape will be soft again for the morning as the tide fills in and will get…uh…slightly less soft on the low tide.

Winds look ok again…mostly light and variable through the morning and variable onshore to light onshore through the afternoon. The forecast models are calling for more of that cold-ass fog tomorrow as well.

I would just plan on surfing local…it won’t be worth driving very far or anything. Getting in a surf at your home break and then getting back to watch some football and nap on the couch sounds like a good way to spend New Year’s Day.

Have a good one…here’s to a good year!

12:21AM LST 3.7 H
05:25AM LST 2.4 L
10:59AM LST 4.4 H
06:15PM LST 0.4 L