Waves for the Weekend – Stronger eddy on Saturday…a little cleaner on Sunday

While the surf won’t be that great this weekend…there will be a few waves to ride at the well exposed areas. Sunday looks a little better than Saturday, which might help all the dads get a few small peaks early on Father’s Day.

Both days will pretty much have the same sort of swell mix…NW windswell (290-300+) will be pushing in through the outer waters while some small SW swells (195-215) pulse up out of the Southern Hemi.

Saturday


Sunday


On both Saturday and Sunday we can expect the average spots (with some exposure to one or two of the swells) to hold around knee high with some inconsistent waist high+ sets. The standout NW windswell spots and the best combo breaks will have waist-chest high surf with some inconsistent shoulder high sets. Look for the biggest waves through Southern San Diego…with a few of the best windswell beaches in Ventura and the South Bay being just a touch smaller and less consistent.



Winds on Saturday are looking a bit sloppy…there is an always lovely upper-level low-pressure moving through our region that is going to strengthen the winds in the outer waters, spin up the eddy, and also spin up some extra pillow surfing time for yours-truly. The forecasts are calling for this eddy to center a bit southerly and stretch out as it does, letting W-NW winds blow over Santa Barbara and Ventura, semi light winds through parts of LA County, and then S-SW winds for Orange County and San Diego. Winds will likely be in the 5-8 knot range for most areas…but expect them to strengthen pretty fast through the day…eventually pushing onshore around 12-15+ knots by the afternoon. Cloudy skies and cool beach temps will be on tap for most of the day. Stupid Eddy.



Sunday the winds lighten up a bit…the eddy will still be hanging around, but the upper level low is forecast to move out toward Nevada, which should help clean things up. I don’t think it will be texture free (except at spots with some legit protection from the winds)…but it will be a lot more appealing than Saturday’s funkiness. Look for variable-s winds for OC and SD, light and variable winds for LA County (cleanest in the South Bay), and then some light/variable to light W winds on tap for Santa Barbara and Ventura.

This weekend won’t be anything special…funky winds will tweak it on Saturday…but Sunday looks OK or at least rideable in more areas than Saturday. Since a lot of our surf will be NW windswell (and not really all that big) I would probably stick with boards that work better in slower, smaller surf…something with a lot of extra float so that you can power through the weaker waves.

Watch the tides…there is a pretty big tide swing right through the middle of the day. Swell direction is going to be fairly important as well…spots without that NW exposure (290+) are going to be pretty left out…so study up the maps a little bit and try and focus on the regions that I mentioned before. Anyway it isn’t all bad news…there will be a few little waves and if you have the right state of mind you will probably be able to squeeze a little fun out it.

Here are tides…Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads out there (and to my Dad in particular)! Have a great one.

06/19/2010 Saturday
03:23AM LDT 3.6 H
09:42AM LDT 0.8 L (sucky)
04:32PM LDT 5.1 H (swamp thing!)
11:32PM LDT 1.1 L

06/20/2010 Sunday
05:02AM LDT 3.2 H
10:37AM LDT 1.3 L
05:22PM LDT 5.4 H (swamp thing!)

Waves for Wednesday – a little more juice

Wednesday will be a surf day…though we still have to power through the midmorning high tide swamp.

In the water we are going to see a mix of slowly fading SW swell (200-220), some building NW energy (290-300), and some small local windswell that is hanging in the background.



The average spots are going to hold around waist-chest high on most sets coming through…it will be primarily the NW swell mix so look for the most consistent surf at spots with exposure to that direction. The SW facing spots will be less consistent, but about the same size on the sets. Standout breaks, mostly the top NW/SW spots and the best combo spots, will be in the chest-shoulder high range on sets with a few bigger head high sets on the lower tides.

Winds look good…mostly light offshore through the morning, with a couple of pockets of variable direction texture. There is a chance for some morning fog again…very patchy like the last time…but it may whip up a little bump if it settles on your region. Afternoon winds are supposed to be mellow…but look for building onshore bump for the most exposed areas as winds pick up a bit out of the NW by mid-afternoon.



It won’t be great tomorrow…but the mix of swells, one of which will be fairly consistent, and the nice conditions will make a good case to at least paddle around a bit. The tides will be a bit problematic but even with the extra water there are still a few corners to find. I think that your best bet is going to be the good combo spots during the dawn patrol…with the best shape at the beach breaks that can handle a bit of tide…though the points/reefs will be an ok fallback.

Here are the tides…hope you get some humpday love.

04:36AM LDT 2.4 L
10:49AM LDT 5.7 H
06:28PM LDT 0.1 L