Eddy for Wednesday – extra helping of funky chicken

Wednesday does not look like much of surf day.

In the water there will be a bit of holding S-SW swell (190-210) that mixes with some increasing NW windswell, and touch of medium period WNW-NW swell (285-300), but increasing S-SW eddy winds will hamper conditions and all but the most protected spots will be pretty sloppy.



Most spots will be in waist high range with some chest high sets showing at the better SW facing breaks. The standout S-SW facing spots and excellent combo breaks will be in the chest-shoulder high range with a couple of bigger sets showing on the tide push.

The eddy circulation holds on Wednesday… S-SE for SD and Orange County in the morning but turning SW-WSW 7-12 knots by midmorning. The winds will be more N-NNW’erly for the passes and canyons in Ventura and Santa Barbara…with increasing NW winds as you get closer to Point Conception. LA county, in particular the South Bay, will be fairly clean with the winds blowing closer to offshore out of the SE but those winds do shift onshore by midmorning and we can expect a sloppy W-WSW 10-15 knots by the afternoon.



Overall shape doesn’t look that great…but spots with some protection from the S winds (yet still open to the S-SW swell mix) will be manageable for the dawn patrol…of course you will have to watch the low-tide…it is enough to drive you a little batty. Since there is swell in the water you should spend a few minutes checking conditions whenever your surf window opens up…these spring eddy’s can sometimes spin themselves out around midmorning, right before the marine-layer/june gloom/overcast burns off.

Here are the tides…

06/02/2010 Wednesday
12:24AM LDT 4.4 H
08:07AM LDT 0.3 L
03:11PM LDT 3.6 H
07:57PM LDT 2.8 L

Wednesday’s Waves – holding S-SW swell and possibly some funky chicken

Wednesday might be rideable for a few spots in the morning but building onshore winds and weird weather may keep it from being much of a surf day.

We are going to have a mix of new S-SSW swell (180-200) filling in with some long-period energy while the bigger pulse of S swell continues to fade out. NW windswell will start off with mostly leftovers but we can expect it to start to pulse up again by the end of the day.



Sizewise it looks like most spots will feel a little smaller through Wednesday morning as the second swell starts off with some 19-20 second period energy (but very small swell heights)…which basically means our surf will be mostly leftover energy from the S and NW. Average spots are going to be in the chest high range with a few inconsistent shoulder high sets showing at the better exposed combo spots. The standout S facing breaks and excellent combo breaks will be in the chest-head high range…possibly a little bigger on the lower tides…not all that consistent on the bigger sets though.

Winds look pretty marginal on Wednesday. Santa Barbara on through LA county will see light W-NW winds around 8-10 knots for the morning…possibly stronger the closer you get to Point Conception. Orange County and San Diego will have more variable flow on tap for the morning…the COAMPS is showing a weak front moving through around that time…so pessimist in me thinks that the variable direction will mostly be onshore. I would definitely give the winds or cams a check before committing too much time to hunting down surf. 10-15 knot W-NW winds will return for most areas by the afternoon.







So like I said…not that great…but at least some potential for manageable/rideable conditions to show through the morning. The early morning high tide isn’t going to help things…fortunately it isn’t a full on swampthing. Plan on surfing early…looks like the cleanest conditions will be on tap for the morning.

Here are the tides…

05/26/2010 Wednesday
03:13AM LDT -1.0 L
09:26AM LDT 3.6 H
02:21PM LDT 1.7 L
08:33PM LDT 6.2 H

Monday’s Surf – SW swell with some wind funk

Monday will be rideable but I think that the wind and the higher tides will hamper shape for a lot of the day.

SW swell (200-220) was filling in slowly on Sunday…this will continue to fill in overnight and will peak into Monday morning. NW windswell was also on the way up and will hold into Monday as well. The SW’er is a little on the shadowed/inconsistent side so you need to stick with spots that are exposed to the swell and can pull in a little more of the NW windswell to flesh out the in-between sets.




The SW'er showing on the Oceanside Buoy

Wave heights on Monday will be in the waist-chest high range at most of the average exposed breaks. The standout SW facing breaks, mostly through South OC/North SD and Northern LA, will be more consistently in the chest-shoulder high range with a few inconsistent head high sets.

Winds are sort of looking like funky-chicken in the morning. The onshore flow from Sunday night is forecast to continue for most of SoCal…with the strongest bump pushing through the Santa Barbara/Ventura/North LA areas. OC and San Diego are looking slightly cleaner but the onshore bump will return pretty quickly through midmorning. At this point it looks like variable onshore (sort of SW-W-WNW) winds in the 5-8 knot range for the morning. WNW winds 10-15 knots build in fast by midday and hold through the afternoon. Here is the COAMPS for the early morning…



If you are looking for clean, consistent surf you aren’t really going to find it tomorrow. However, there will be some surfable waves and the water is getting almost ridiculously warm for some of our SoCal spots…(I heard the number 73-degrees being bandied about in the North OC area today). I think your best bet is going to be the early morning dawn patrol…we will be coming off a low tide (that bottoms out around 3am) and the winds will be lighter. It will still be a bit of a gamble, so if you live a ways from the beach you might want to wait until there is enough light for a cam check.

Here are the tides for Monday…

03:13AM LDT -0.3 L
09:39AM LDT 3.7 H
02:20PM LDT 2.4 L
08:20PM LDT 5.7 H