Waves for Wednesday – Building S swell and some funky winds

Wednesday will be surfable…but it also looks like some stronger eddy winds will be picking up…so you might have to hunt a little further than usual to find something without bump/crumble to it.

In the water we are going to have a mix of building S-SSW swell (180-200) and some increasing local WNW-NW windswell. The S swell is going to start to peak late in the day (probably after sundown) but it will continue through Thursday and into Friday before really starting to drop off all that much.



During the morning…look for most of the average spots to hold around waist high with some bigger sets at the average breaks that toss in some southerly exposure. The best S facing breaks, mostly in Orange County, will have chest-shoulder high surf showing during the morning, but I won’t be surprised to see some bigger sets showing as the morning tide drops off. By the afternoon/evening it looks like the best S facing spots will be more consistently around shoulder-head high and will see some overhead sets mixing in. Keep in mind that spots which can really focus this sort of swell direction may have some bigger waves as the main part of the swell starts to arrive.

NW winds are supposed to crank it up overnight, spinning up the coastal eddy for us on Wednesday. Look for the eddy to be centered around Catalina which means NW winds for Santa Barbara, some variable flow for Ventura…and S to SSW winds for LA on down through San Diego. The eddy looks fairly light in the morning, around 5-8 knots, but it will have enough to crumble up the surf at the exposed spots. W winds 10-15 knots will push through during the afternoon.



I am not expecting a ton of new size showing for tomorrow morning…(the new swell will just be starting)…but there is a little SSW already in the water…so it will be surfable, and if the stupid eddy doesn’t totally screw us windwise there could be a few playful peaks at the top spots. I am expecting the exposed S facing spots to see an increase in size and consistency throughout the day and a few bigger sets arriving by sundown. Like I mentioned above…OC and a few areas in SD will be the most exposed to this swell, so look for the biggest surf there…most spots further north are going to get some funky shadowing from our nearshore islands and will be smaller and less consistent…just something to keep in mind.

Here are the tides…happy Cinco (remember don’t drink the worm and drive anywhere)



05/05/2010 Wednesday
02:13AM LDT 3.8 H
10:12AM LDT 0.6 L
05:32PM LDT 3.6 H
10:45PM LDT 2.7 L

Surf For Friday – New waves but the swell is taking its sweet time

Friday will be a surf day…with new waves showing in the morning but the peak of the swell arriving more in the evening (and into Saturday).

So this new swell is kind of being a little bit of a ninja…the initial part of the swell is coming in pretty westerly…with the main part of the energy in the 275-285 degree range…which thanks to the position of the storm is letting it slip past our outer buoys, namely the #46006 buoy.

Normally this wouldn’t be as possible with a storm that is still a reasonable distance from our coast…(it is a lot more common with storms that form up a few hundred miles out to sea)…but the California Buoy #46059 tore loose from its moorings sometime last year and it hasn’t been put back into service…so there is a nice big hole in our coverage. Check out this handy little image I put together and you can sort of see what I mean.



Also the more westerly swell direction means that the swell is hitting more of the coast at the same time, which again limits the usual “early warning” signs that you can see as a more NW’erly swell moves down the coast starting up in NorCal, through Central Cal, and down to Socal. Basically it means that you can have a swell slip in past the buoys and bam it starts hitting all of California’s spots within a few hours of each other…or if you are REALLY unlucky the storm won’t produce the swell you thought it would and you can’t tell that there are no waves on the way until it fails to arrive. Yeah I love those.

Anyway…the new W-WNW swell (275-300) is actually starting to show on our nearshore indicator buoys (like the Harvest Buoy and San Nicolas Island) and it will continue to fill in overnight and throughout the day on Friday.



All of the exposed spots will be seeing some new waves in the morning…average spots will be in the waist-chest high+ range with some shoulder high sets. Better WNW facing breaks, like those in San Diego, Ventura, and the South Bay, will be in the chest-head high range. The standout WNW-NW spots, mostly in Ventura through the morning, will be running in the shoulder-overhead range on the sets. As the swell fills in look for all of the W-NW facing breaks to increase in size and consistency…with the best breaks seeing sets going a couple of feet overhead by the end of the day.

Winds look good…light and variable to light/moderate offshore near the wind-prone passes and canyons. Winds stay light but turn slightly onshore through the mid-afternoon. Looks like they may lay down later in evening as well, but don’t count on it being bump free.



I think it will be worth getting out and surfing tomorrow morning…it won’t be huge or anything right off the bat…but the swell is filling in which means that it will just get bigger and more consistent. Points and Reefs will have the best shape…the beach breaks are going to be a bit walled as the swell fills in…expect some current to paddle against at the wide open spots as well.

There is a bit of a difference in how the swell will be hitting each of our Counties tomorrow. The Regional Forecasts have some of those details so give ‘em a check when you get a chance.

Regional/County Forecasts

Santa Barbara Surf Forecast
Ventura County Surf Forecast
Los Angeles County Surf Forecast
Orange County Surf Forecast
San Diego Surf Forecast


Here are the tides… send me some reports if you get a chance (pics are always welcome too).

01/08/2010 Friday
03:29AM LST 5.1 H
11:05AM LST 0.7 L
05:05PM LST 2.8 H
09:39PM LST 2.0 L