Frigid Friday – oh look more onshore wind and fading S swell…my favorite.

Friday is not looking very fun…it will be semi-rideable in a few areas but overall between the fading swell and the onshore wind there won’t be many reasons to paddle out.

Swellwise we are going to see leftover S swell (175-185) and some minor local windswell. The S swell will continue to fade through the day so expect smaller and less consistent surf by the afternoon.



Average S-facing spots can expect knee-waist high surf on Friday with a few rare plus sets showing on the lower tides. The standout S facing spots, mostly through Orange County, will have knee-chest high surf with some chest-shoulder high faces slipping through on the largest sets. Again, expect the bigger waves to trail off as we head into the afternoon.

Friday’s winds look pretty lame…there will be some variable onshore flow showing through SB down through the South Bay…mostly below 5 knots but with some 5-7 knot pockets in the more exposed areas. Orange County and down through San Diego will have W-WNW winds around 5-8 knots for the morning…basically staying that way overnight and then re-strengthening as we head into mid-morning. Look for all areas to have 10-15+ W-WNW winds by the afternoon.







The swell is dropping, the winds are going to be funky, and we are going to be fighting through a mid-morning high tide…man all of those sound like good reasons not to go to the beach. Personally I am going to give the surf a quick check in the morning, make sure the wind didn’t lay down overnight, and then I will probably go back to bed. If you have to surf…and I mean “HAVE” to surf…bring your small wave gear, a really open mind, and try to stick to spots that offer up some sort of wind protection.

Here are the tides…

07/09/2010 Friday
02:45AM LDT -0.7 L
09:13AM LDT 3.5 H
01:32PM LDT 2.3 L
07:48PM LDT 6.3 H

Southern California Long-range Surf Forecast – 7/08/2010

Forecast Overview
- Look for fugly conditions and fading S swell on Friday.
- Junky winds and leftover, almost too small, swell mix for Saturday
- Sunday the crap winds continue while we see a new mix of S and SW swells as well as a bit of local windswell
- Monday the S and SW swells fill in a touch more and winds start to back down.
- Tuesday and Wednesday we will finally have some cleaner conditions and even a little bit of playful surf…(man this seems like a long ways away)
- New storm activity in the South Pacific long-range forecast…looks like more surf heading our way for the last part of July.

Short Range (next 4 days)

Friday – (fading away and winds continue to suck…I hate you wind)
The last of the S swell (175-185) will arrive as the energy continues to trail off through Friday. WNW-NW windswell build up slightly in the background but mostly it stays pretty marginal. S facing spots will be in the knee-waist high range with inconsistent waist high+ sets. Standout S facing breaks will still manage some waist-chest high surf on inconsistent sets…along with some rare shoulder-high waves on really inconsistent sets. Look for size and consistency to back down as we move throughout the day. Winds/Weather: The NW winds are forecast to stick around through Friday. Overall we can expect light NW-W winds around 3-5 knots with a couple of pockets hitting 5-7 knots at times through the morning. W winds 10-15+ knots with some stronger gusts.



Saturday – (crappy leftover S swell/windswell mix with more crappy wind)
Just some leftover S swell…a touch of background SW energy and local WNW windswell…oh and craptacular winds. Man we can’t get a break. Surf will be knee high for most S facing spots while the standouts see some inconsistent knee-waist high+ sets. Conditions look like poop though. Winds/Weather: W winds get a jump on things early…blowing around 4-5 knots for the morning, which isn’t a lot…but the winds will have been blowing that way all night so shape will be pretty sloppy. W winds around 10-15+ return by the late afternoon.



Sunday - (arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!)
A new, small, inconsistent SW swell (200-220) will start to pulse up on Sunday mixing with some weak S swell and sloppy WNW-NW windswell. Most spots will continue to see surf in the knee high range with some knee-waist high sets sneaking through. The standout S-SW facing spots, mostly in OC and SD, will have some chest high sets. Shape, thanks to the wind, continues to look like poop. Winds/Weather: Guess what? The W winds are back on Sunday...and it looks even a tad stronger than it has been. Expect onshore W flow around 8-10 knots for the morning and then gusts hitting 15+ knots by the afternoon.



Monday - (holy crap…winds clean up a bit…though it looks cleaner on Tuesday)
The surf increases a bit as the mix of S and SW swell fill in a little more and the WNW-NW windswell increases slightly as well. Look for more knee-waist high surf at the average spots with some waist-chest high surf at the standouts and even a few really inconsistent chest high+ sets on the lower tides. Winds/Weather: The real news is that our winds are supposed to improve slightly…not completely glass off or anything (that would be a miracle)…but back down more than they have in a while. For the morning we can expect W-NW winds around 2-3 knots along with some light/variable conditions at spots with some good wind protection. The W-NW winds do pick up through the afternoon hitting around 10-15 knots…but they are supposed to lighten quite a bit overnight and set up cleaner conditions for Tuesday.



Long-Range

North Pacific
Nothing special happening in the NPAC…but there is one little runt of a storm spinning up under the Aleutians that is forecast to set up some extremely steep angled NW swell (295-300) for Socal around the middle of next week.



You can see it getting some reasonable sea-heights going…but the majority of the energy is heading toward Alaska and Canada (eh!)



Socal can expect this swell to move in on Tuesday (July 13) and hold into Wednesday (July 14). It looks like this swell is going to be exclusively for the NW San Diego standouts…and maybe a couple of the really well exposed areas in Ventura and the South Bay. Sizewise it looks like knee-waist high for the average NW spots and some rare chest high sets at the SD standouts. Really it is barely worth talking about…but I threw it in the forecast since there is nothing coming from the NPAC.



South Pacific
The last of the S swell will start to trail off (under bumpy conditions) Friday and Saturday.

Further out…the SPAC was a bit quiet and disorganized after that big storm slammed through, but it did manage to set up some weaker areas of fetch as smaller storms swirled in the wake of the stronger system. These weak fetches will be pushing up some overlapping pulses of S-SW swell as we head into Sunday (July 11th) and then holding through the middle of July. Nothing looks particularly strong or noteworthy…but we can expect some waist-chest high waves at the better exposed spots and even a few inconsistent shoulder high sets at the standouts as these small swells filter through next week.

Even further out there is a decent sized-storm forecast to form down in our SSW-SW swell window in about 3-4 days. At the same time it looks like another tropical system is going to form to the north of New Zealand...



It looks like there is a good shot at a bunch of this tropical energy could bridge over to the bigger/colder storm down closer to Antarctica, which would really increase wind-speeds and kick the storm into a different gear. I don’t think the wavewatchIII wave model is doing a great job showing the increase in intensity on the swell-height images…but I have a feeling this will change in a few days as we get closer to this storm forming.



At this point…if this storm forms…we would be looking at a chest-head high SSW-SW swell heading our way for July 22-23rd…possibly a little bigger at a few of the standout SW spots.

Tropics
I can hear the crickets chirping…”chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp…” yeah I hate that sound too.



the Next Long-range forecast will be posted on Monday, July 12th, 2010.

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

Thursday’s Surf – S-swell fades even more

Thursday looks rideable with semi-manageable morning conditions…but there will still be enough wind to add some bump.

Swellwise we are going to see a mix of fading S-swell (175-190) and some weak background WNW windswell. The S swell will be losing size and shortening up its swell period as we move throughout the day…expect smaller and less consistent surf on tap by the afternoon.



The average S facing spots and a few of the better combo spots will have waist-chest high surf…with a few inconsistent chest-shoulder high sets still showing through the morning. The standout S facing breaks, mostly through OC and the other few top exposed breaks out there, will see waist-shoulder high surf with a few rare shoulder-head high faces still slipping through during the morning. With the swell dropping expect some longer waits between sets…as well as less size…as we move throughout the day.

Winds…not looking great…but not looking that bad through the morning either. Forecasts are calling for light/variable to light/west for the dawn patrol with most areas seeing winds below the 3-5 knot range. The more exposed areas will see some texture/bump…but if there is anything to block or knock down the texture then the conditions should be fairly manageable. Expect for building W winds to push in by midday and eventually topping out around 10-15 knots by late in the afternoon.







The fading S swell will still have enough life to push a few waves into the exposed spots on Thursday. It won’t be super punchy thanks to the drop in swell period along with the building morning tides…but with the right equipment, there should be something we can work with. At a minimum I think it will be worth giving the morning surf a quick check, either on the cameras or a fast drive-by if you live close. Now that the swell has dropped some it looks like the beach breaks won’t be as sectiony…so we might get a chance to spread out a little more...but still count on the points/reefs having the best shape.

Here are the tides…cross your fingers that the wind can keep mellow for the morning.

07/08/2010 Thursday
02:06AM LDT -0.1 L
08:35AM LDT 3.2 H
12:39PM LDT 2.4 L
07:03PM LDT 6.0 H (swampy!)

Southern California Long-range Surf Forecast – 7/05/2010

Forecast Overview
- The S swell will start to slowly back down on Tuesday, but still keep solid surf showing at the standouts. Winds look pretty crappy though.
- Wednesday the S swell will continue to back down and we will continue to have more funky winds
- Thursday the S swell fades even more but manages to send in some playful surf and yes the winds still look crappy .
- Friday our S swell will drop to mostly leftovers while the winds look slightly better for a few areas…overall it still won’t be that good.
- Smaller surf and some cleaner conditions on tap for the long range…smaller waves isn’t what we want to hear…but at least it doesn’t look completely flat.

Short Range (next 4 days)

Tuesday – (still solid S swell with more crappy wind)
The S swell (175-190) will be dropping slowly throughout the day on Tuesday while the NW windswell pulses up slightly in the background. The S swell will still show some solid size on Tuesday…so you can still expect plenty of waves. Average S facing spots will be in the chest-head high range on the sets with some overhead and even overhead+ waves occasionally popping up on the lower tides. The stand S facing spots, mostly through OC, will have shoulder-head high+ surf fairly consistently with sets still going a couple of feet overhead on those lower tides. Winds/Weather: The winds aren’t looking very good for Tuesday. Onshore flow, set up by a low-pressure over Northern California, will be on tap for the morning…pushing 5-10 knot W-SW winds through most of our areas and a few small pockets of S-SSW winds across OC and San Diego. LA County looks like it will have the cleanest morning conditions. W winds 10-15 knots will blow through the afternoon.



Wednesday - (S swell fades and the wind is still questionable)
The S swell (175-190) will continue to back down on Wednesday while NW windswell continues to hold in the background. The surf will finally make a more noticeable drop on Wednesday as the S swell trails off…still there will be some decent sized surf at the well exposed spots. Most S facing breaks will be in the waist-shoulder high range on the sets. Standout S facing spots will see chest-head high surf with still a few overhead sets mixing in through the morning. Winds/Weather: The winds will still be a bit fugly on Wednesday…but the current forecasts are calling for them to come onshore a bit lighter. At this point it looks like the morning will have some W-WSW winds around 5-6 knots…with lighter flow through Orange County, Los Angeles, and North San Diego. W winds around 12-15 knots return through the afternoon.



Thursday (what the hell…stupid wind)
Our surf continues to drop on Thursday as the bigger S swell (175-185) begins to fade to mostly leftover energy. There will still be some rideable size but our local winds are forecast to continue to hamper conditions. Look for most S facing spots to see surf in the waist-chest high range with some rare chest-shoulder high sets showing at the more exposed breaks. Standout S facing spots will be in the waist-shoulder high range with a few head high waves still sneaking in through the morning. Winds/Weather: Looks like W-NW winds around 5-knots will be on tap through the morning. These winds will strengthen fast and by 10am it looks like 8-10 knots…maybe stronger in a few areas. Look for NW winds around 12-18 knots by late in the day.



Friday – (fading away, winds are still tweaky)
The last of the S swell (175-185) will arrive as the energy continues to trail off through Friday. WNW-NW windswell build up slightly in the background but mostly it stays pretty marginal. S facing spots will be in the waist high range with inconsistent chest high sets. Standout S facing breaks will still manage some waist-chest high+ surf on inconsistent sets…along with some shoulder-high+ waves on really inconsistent sets. Winds/Weather: The NW winds are forecast to stick around through Friday…but it looks like they might be fairly light early in the morning, even turning slightly more N for spots in OC and North LA. Overall we can expect light NW winds around 3-5 knots with a couple of pockets hitting 5-7 knots at times.



Long-Range

North Pacific
The NPAC is still pretty boring…we can expect some pulses of windswell to creep in throughout the week. Nothing that is really worthy of calling it a rideable swell…but possibly enough to break up the S swell as it drops later this week.



There is one little low-pressure worth watching that forms over the upcoming weekend. It isn’t very intense but it is stronger and better positioned than anything we have seen for the last several weeks. It even generates some halfway decent sea-state on the forecast models…



If it can live up to forecasts we might see a little blip of NW swell (290-300) heading our way for the 13-14th of July…it won’t be much more than waist high, even at the top spots, but it nice to see a little activity is this part of the Pacific.



South Pacific
The big S swell hit on Sunday and is holding here on Monday...it will start to back down on Tuesday and will continue to slowly wind down through the end of the week. Thanks to a couple of fronts that followed the big one, this swell has some extra energy trailing the peak of the swell…which means we will see good sized surf holding through Wednesday, playful surf through Friday, and likely some rideable waves through at least Saturday.

Further out…the SPAC was a bit quiet and disorganized after that big storm slammed through, but it did manage to set up some weaker areas of fetch as smaller storms swirled in the wake of the stronger system. These weak fetches will be pushing up some overlapping pulses of S-SW swell as we head into Sunday (July 11th) and then holding through the middle of July. Nothing looks particularly strong or noteworthy…but we can expect some waist-chest high waves at the better exposed spots and even a few shoulder high sets at the standouts as these small swells filter through next week.

Even further out there is a decent sized-storm forecast to form down in our SSW-SW swell window in about 5-6 days. At the same time it looks like another tropical system is going to form to the north of New Zealand...



It looks like there is a good shot at a bunch of this tropical energy could bridge over to the bigger/colder storm down closer to Antarctica, which would really increase wind-speeds and kick the storm into a different gear. I don’t think the wavewatchIII wave model is doing a great job showing the increase in intensity on the swell-height images…but I have a feeling this will change in a few days as we get closer to this storm forming.



At this point…if this storm forms…we would be looking at a chest-head high SSW-SW swell heading our way for July 22-23rd…possibly a little bigger at a few of the standout SW spots.

Tropics
The tropics are pretty quiet again…still nothing expected to brew up over the next couple of days.



the Next Long-range forecast will be posted on Thursday, July 8th, 2010.

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

Monday’s Surf – S swell fades and the wind stays a bit funky

Monday will be rideable, even fun in a few spot s, but most breaks will see some sort of funkiness and texture from light (but steady) W-WSW winds.

Swellwise we will have a mix of fading S swell (180-200) and some NW windswell that will pulse up a bit more in the background.



Most spots will be in the waist-chest high range with some rare chest-shoulder high sets showing at the more S facing breaks. The standout S facing spots and the best combo spots will be in the chest-head high range…with the potential for a few bigger waves sneaking in early in the morning.

Winds don’t look so good…thanks to an upper level low-pressure that is moving into the area the onshore flow is forecast to continue on Monday...it shouldn’t be all that strong…the NWS models and the COAMPS are calling for winds to be below 10-knots…but even light winds can funky things up if the blow the wrong direction long enough. At this point…it looks like most areas will have some texture/bump to it for the morning. The flow will be mostly out of the West…but there may be some SW showing in a few areas. Basically it won’t be totally blown out but a lot of spots will be bumpy and crumbly through the first part of the day. These winds strengthen and hold onshore out of the W around 10-knots. Here check out the COAMPS and the NOAA/NWS winds for tomorrow morning.





So I am not expecting all that much out of tomorrow…sure there may be a few spots that offer up some cleaner conditions but these wind directions don’t do the rest of the breaks any favors. If you have to drive any sort of distance to surf I would definitely try to check the cams and wind obs before committing a ton of time/gas money to hunt down some crumbly fading swell.

Here are the tides…

05/17/2010 Monday
06:47AM LDT -0.9 L
01:33PM LDT 3.3 H
05:44PM LDT 2.4 L
11:54PM LDT 5.5 H

Waves for the Weekend – Fun Saturday morning…getting funky on Sunday

Saturday looks like a surf day, particularly through the morning. Sunday looks windy, but there may get a eddy to form and shed off the worst of it.

Saturday the S swell (180-200) will still be in the water but it will be slowly fading throughout the day. Local WNW-NW windswell will start to creep up and may start to break up the S swell at the combo spots.



The average S facing breaks will be in the waist-shoulder high range on Saturday…biggest through the morning and getting smaller and less consistent through the afternoon. The standout S facing spots, mostly in OC, will have some head high sets through the morning. Look for a few bigger, more crossed up peaks at the combo spots.

Winds look mostly light in the morning with slightly offshore light/variable to even light NE winds for a few areas. Look for these winds to turn onshore out of the W-SW around 10-12 knots for the afternoon and possibly strengthen a bit more by late in the day.



Sunday the S-swell (180-200) will fade into the background as new SSW-SW swell (190-210) and increasing local windswell fill in.



Size will come up a touch more on Sunday…but conditions don’t look so hot. Look for most S facing spots to see surf in the waist-shoulder high range…about the same as Saturday with a touch more pep thanks to the new SSW’er. The NW facing spots will see the windswell build up to about shoulder-head high at the top spots…but the periods will be in the 6-8 second range so expect pretty sloppy shape.

Winds right now look a bit ugly on Sunday…W-NW flow is forecast to push across the outer waters pretty hard through the morning…but it doesn’t quite reach the coast according to the COAMPS model…this looks like we might see some variable onshore flow SD and OC…possibly even some SE winds if things go well and we see the eddy restart. A lot is going to depend on if the eddy can get going enough to block out the NW flow…basically at this point I would plan on surfing on Saturday and then just wait and seeing on Sunday…but not committing a lot of time to surfing that day (it is mother’s day…so unless your mom rips you should probably spend it with her.)



That is about it for now…I would plan on some fun surf on Saturday and marginal conditions on Sunday…but an outside chance that there is a little morning window. Looking a little down the road in the forecast that swell for next week still looks pretty solid and weather should be pretty good when it gets here...something to keep in mind.

Here are the tides…have a great weekend...happy mother's day to all you surf mom's! (pssst ask for your special "mom alone time" on Saturday morning this year)

05/08/2010 Saturday
12:50AM LDT 1.7 L
06:14AM LDT 3.5 H
12:27PM LDT 1.0 L
06:52PM LDT 4.4 H

05/09/2010 Sunday
01:29AM LDT 1.2 L
07:08AM LDT 3.5 H
12:59PM LDT 1.2 L
07:15PM LDT 4.8 H

Southern California Long-range Surf Forecast – 8/27/2009

Forecast Overview

Fading S swell on tap for the next couple of days but our surf continues to look fun. New, but small tropical swell from Ignacio keeps the Southern Hemi energy from dropping too fast and a new NW swell (290-300) moves in over the weekend and will set up some combo peaks at the best exposed breaks.

Short Range (next 3 days)

Friday
The S swell (180-190) will be winding down but there will continue to be plenty of playful waves at the top spots as a mix of background NW windswell and some weak tropical S-SSW energy from TS Ignacio strengthens slightly. Most spots exposed spots will be in the waist-shoulder high range on the lower tides. Top S facing breaks will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some inconsistent head high sets. Winds/Weather: Look for light and variable winds through the morning, even light offshore near passes and canyons. Winds come onshore around 10-12 knots through the afternoon and may lay down a bit by sundown.

Saturday
Saturday looks pretty fun, we are going to have a mix of fading S swell (180-190), some new NW swell (285-300+), and some steady tropical S-SW swell (180-200) from Ignacio. None of the swells are particularly big but the well exposed spots will see some nice combo type conditions. Look for the average spots to be in the waist-chest high range, better and more consistent on the lower tides. The top combo spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some rare shoulder-head high sets coming through off the mix of energy. Winds/Weather: Look for light and variable winds through the morning, even light offshore near passes and canyons. Winds come onshore around 10-12 knots through the afternoon and may lay down a bit by sundown.

Sunday
Expect fun but smaller and less consistent surf on Sunday. The S swell (180-190) will be backing down to leftovers, and the tropical swell will likely be backing off a bit as well. The NW swell (290-300) will still be in the water but it will be dropping out as well. Look for most spots to hold in the waist-chest high range while the top combo spots hold around chest high with some less consistent shoulder high sets. Winds/Weather: winds will be a touch stronger on Sunday. Look for variable winds in the morning, mostly light but with a couple of pockets of texture. WNW winds 10-14 knots build in through the afternoon.



Long-Range

North Pacific
So we had decent little storm roll through the Gulf of Alaska the last couple of days. Not a real “winter” size swell or anything but pretty good considering that we are still in August. It doesn’t look like much is going to follow it though…high pressure starts to ridge back up across our storm track, and even though there is one more little low around the Aleutians it doesn’t look like the high is going to let it set up fetch in our swell window. So for the long-range outlook it looks like one little teaser pulse of WNW energy that fades out by the end of the weekend and then weak leftovers on tap after that.



South Pacific
We have had a nice run of S-SSW swell for the past few days and enough of its energy (backed by some tropical S-SW swell) will hold into the upcoming weekend for us to ride some playful waves. Further out it looks like things are going to quiet down for the first week of September…high pressure is blocking out most of the storms right now, and that gap of energy will arrive through that first week. Fortunately the long-range charts continue to show a few really large looking storms swirling around New Zealand and Antarctica in the next 4-5 days…if they pull together we should start seeing new S-SSW swell (180-200) arriving around the 9th of September with more on tap after that. These systems are a few days from forming…so I will have a lot more details in the next long-range forecast.



Northeast Pacific Tropics
The tropics are getting active again…possibly enough to help fill in the gap of Southern Hemi swell we have lining up for next week. Ignacio has been downgraded to a tropical depression (and sent a few waves our way)…but there are 2 new tropical disturbances that could pop into something more organized in a couple of days. Check them out…



Nothing to get super excited about yet…but worth keeping an eye on the region at least.

Next Long-range forecast will be posted on Monday, August 31, 2009

- Adam Wright

Monday’s Surf – Fading swell but worth a check

Monday will be a surf day…nothing great…but the winds will be a bit better than they have been.

Our swell will be a mix of fading S swell (180-200), some weaker SW energy (200-220), and some local NW windswell. The S in particular will be losing energy throughout the day and will be fading completely out over the next couple of days.



Most spots will have surf in the waist-chest high range with some chest high+ sets at times. The standout S facing spots and the good combo breaks, in OC and San Diego, will have some chest-shoulder high surf, again with a couple of rare bigger sets on the lower tides.

Winds will be decent through the morning…mostly light and variable throughout SoCal. W winds around 10-15 knots move back in through the afternoon.

Like I said it won’t be great or anything tomorrow but there will be a little bit of swell leftover and the winds will be ok…so there will be a few playful peaks at the better exposed breaks. I actually think that the exposed beach breaks will have the most size and consistency, especially those that can pull in the mix of swell...but the points and reefs will likely still be playful as well.

Here are a couple of pictures that I shot late last week (Thursday) as the swell was hitting in the morning. Thanks to the stupid eddy the light was bad and I was too cold (and lazy) to get far from the truck…so they aren’t the greatest photos…anyway just thought I would share.





Here are the tides for Monday.

05:49AM LDT -1.1 L
12:14PM LDT 3.3 H
04:47PM LDT 2.0 L
11:04PM LDT 6.0 H

Surf for Thursday – Mostly leftovers

Thursday will have some waves but doesn’t look like a surf day (definitely a far cry from the waves earlier this week).

Looks like our run of surf is winding down...the S swell (180-190) is fading out and we don’t have much on tap to replace it. There is a little bit of NW swell (290-300+) and some local windswell that is working to keep wave heights from dropping too fast but there isn’t going to be a lot of energy in the water on Thursday.



Overall we can expect surf in the knee-waist high range...with a few inconsistent chest high sets at the better exposed breaks. The standout spots, mostly through San Diego, will have some chest high+ waves on the better sets. Overall it will be fairly inconsistent...and shape may be a little funky as we see mostly shorter swell periods.

Winds look ok again tomorrow...mostly light and variable through the morning. NW winds 10-15 knots will move in through the afternoon. Looks like Southern SoCal, Orange County and San Diego, have a chance at some more morning fog tomorrow as well...expect a little more texture/bump if the fog rolls over your spot.

I would plan on Thursday being sort of surfy...but not super fun. A lot is going to depend on how exposed your spot is, if you hit the tides/weather right. Ideally I think the morning would be the best shape but you do have the fog, and a slightly higher tide...both of which can be sort of lame if your spot is sensitive. I don’t think there is a “best call” for tomorrow...just try and keep an open mind, bring your smaller wave gear, and you should be able to get a couple of fun ones.

Here are the tides...

04:14AM LDT 3.9 H
12:33PM LDT 0.5 L
07:53PM LDT 3.2 H

Surf for Wednesday – Hell yeah we are surfing

Wednesday will be another surf day (it will be 5 in a row!)

Sizes will be dropping but there will be still be plenty of waves on Wednesday. The S swell (180-190) that peaked Sunday and into Monday will continue to send in some surf tomorrow...it won’t be all that big anymore but there will still be some playful sets. We will also have some steep NW energy (290+ and mostly windswell) that will help to cross up a few of the best combo spots.

We can expect the average spots to drop into the chest high range with a few rarer shoulder high sets. Standout S facing breaks, mostly through OC and Northern SD, will have more consistent chest-shoulder high sets with a few bigger waves sneaking through at the top spots.

Winds will be clean in the morning with mostly light/variable to light offshore flow through the dawn patrol. Onshore winds return through midday and eventually top out of the W-NW around 10-15 knots by mid-afternoon.

Despite the dropping swell I still think we are going to have some fun tomorrow...I think that the best shape is actually going to be at the S-facing beach breaks that can also pull in a little of the windswell. Don’t get me wrong there will still be fun shape at the points/reefs but I think that with the smaller sizes that the beach breaks are going to open up and set up a few bowly peaks on the lower tides...and probably be less crowded and more consistent than the points/reefs. I would try and get it in the morning just because the wind will be a little strong by the afternoon...if you can try and hit it before 10am or so.

Have a good one...try not to drink too much green beer (stick to whiskey!)


I appear to be out...

Here are the tides n stuff...

Sunrise
6:33am (civil twilight)

Tides: (only two today)
02:21AM LDT 4.0 H
11:29AM LDT 0.7 L

Surf on Friday - A good reason for a 4 day work week.

That S swell continued to show pretty well on Thursday...I got a decent lunch session at the local beach break, and even with the midday higher tide there were still a few overhead sets sneaking in. It was even a bit more broken up than the last couple of days which was pretty nice as well. I got a few mixed reports from the points further north that said the tide and wind caused a few issues but that it was still pretty decent there as well. Anyway on to Friday…

Friday is looking like a surf day…the swell will be dropping but if you can time it right to take advantage of the tide swings it should be pretty fun.

We will have a mix of dropping S swell, some SW energy, and a bit of windswell from the WNW. Most spots will hold around waist-chest high…and get pretty soft during the high tides. The Standout S facing surf spots, particularly those in Orange County, will have surf in the chest-shoulder high range…with a few rare bigger sets in the morning.

Winds look pretty similar to Thursday…sort of eddy…sort of variable. Basically expect a little bit of texture at the really open beaches, and cleaner conditions at spots with a little shelter. W winds around 10-15 knots build in through the afternoon.

I think tomorrow will be fun…I wish I didn’t have to work tomorrow so that I could grab a couple of sessions as the tide shifts around. Is it really worth taking the day off? Probably not…well unless you are burned out, need some surf, and are currently field-stripping your AK-47 “to teach your co-workers a lesson in manners”…then yes you should probably take the day off and go surfing. It will be sunny, the surf will be playful, and the winds light…it is sort of going to suck staying indoors.

Here are a couple of random pics that I shot Wednesday night when the swell was hitting…

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.

Tuesday's Surf - Clean Conditions? What's that? Your lips are moving but I don't understand what you are saying.

Tuesday could finally be a clean surf day...(ok you can stop laughing when I say that)

Naturally our swell will be dropping because the conditions will be improving. In the water we are going to see a mix of fading S swell, some local windswell, and a touch of WNW swell.

Most exposed spots will be around knee-chest high. Standout S facing breaks and good combo spots will have some shoulder high sets.

Winds are forecast to be light and variable through the morning but the charts are still showing some light eddy spin to the local pressure model. Likely we are going to see some light S-SE flow through San Diego and cleaner conditions as you move into the regions further north.

Look for all areas to have onshore winds out of the W around 10-15 knots by the afternoon.

If the winds hold off I think the S facing spots in OC should be fun...maybe even with some peaky shape thanks to the other swells we have in the water along with the S swell. I would probably still do a cam check in the morning to make sure that the eddy isn't just screwing with us...then head to the beach if it really is clean. If you pick a good break I think we can get away with a better all-round board and save the small wave gear for later in the week.