Monday’s Surf – New W-WNW swell arrives

Monday looks like a surf day but we won’t see too much of the new W-WNW swell until later in the afternoon.

For the morning we can expect mostly a leftover mix of WNW energy (280-300) from the weekend and some background SSW swell (190-210). New W-WNW swell...(275-300) moves in to the northerly counties through the morning and filters further south as we move throughout the day. This new swell will come through with some medium to short-periods, starting around 14-seconds and then dropping to about 10-12 by the time the swell peaks which will give it a sort of punchy-windswell almost storm-swell feel as it fills in. Unfortunately the “storm-swell” term is a little too correct…since there is a pretty decent cold front right on the heels of this swell that is going to hack up conditions pretty bad as we head into Tuesday, when the swell peaks.



Anyway back to Monday’s surf…for the morning look for the average WNW facing breaks to be in the waist high range with some chest high sets. The better NW facing breaks will be more consistently in the chest-shoulder high range…particularly through the South Bay and San Diego areas.

Further north, up towards Ventura and Santa Barbara, we can expect this new W-WNW swell mix to be showing new waves through the morning with the average/above-average spots holding around chest-shoulder high range. The standout WNW-NW breaks, particularly those that like shorter period swells, will have some shoulder-head high surf by midday with some overhead sets mixing in. Look for the most size and consistency through Ventura and smaller surf as you move north.

Winds and weather look ok for the morning, mostly light and variable to light offshore for most areas, maybe a few touches of texture at a few of the more exposed beaches. Look for building W-SW winds around 10-15 knots by the afternoon. Over Monday night the forecast is calling for the winds to come onshore out of the WNW around 15-20+ knots with gusts of near 40 knots and small craft advisories being tossed all over the place. Fortunately it isn’t supposed to last long, offshore conditions are set to return later in the week.



Overall for Monday I think that we will have some fun. Winds will be ok for the morning and there is new swell filling in (even if it isn’t doing a whole lot for most regions early in the day)…top it off with the high-tide peak pushing further back in the morning and it looks like we will be able to find a few playful waves. Points and Reefs will continue to have the best shape…but a well-formed sandbar or something to help crease up the swell should be able to pull in an occasional makeable corner as well. Holiday break is going to be in full effect so expect fairly crowded conditions (particularly for a Monday)…but it is the holidays so hopefully we will be able to cut each other a little slack despite the extra bodies.

Here are the tides…

12/21/2009 Monday
12:39AM LST 3.6 H
05:15AM LST 2.7 L
10:55AM LST 4.5 H
06:28PM LST 0.4 L

Speaking of the holidays…my family is also on their holiday break, which means that I am going to be a little off schedule myself so I can hang out with them. The forecast updates should be posted as usual but I may be a little slow (uh slower than usual) in responding to emails. Hope you guys have a great week! - Adam

Waves for Wednesday – Starting slow but building through the afternoon

Wednesday will be more surfable than the last couple of days…but not really in the morning.

For most regions don’t expect to see much, if any, increase in surf for the dawn patrol. A new mix of WNW-NW swell, a blend of both windswell from local winds and some medium-short period energy from a storm further off the California Coast, will be slowly filling in through the day. This new WNW-NW energy will be pushing in from 280-300 degrees but the main part of the swell will be a steeper angled 290-300 degrees. SW swell (200-220) will be slowly pushing up in the background as well…but will be pretty small and inconsistent overall.

Wednesday Morning…around 5am



Wednesday afternoon…around 5pm



Wave heights for the morning will continue to be the ankle-knee high shore-lappers we saw on Tuesday...the high tide will still be an issue…so don’t expect much in the way of rideable shape. The top spots will be slightly bigger…knee-waist high on sets…but again soft and slow on the shape.

The counties closer to Point Conception, Santa Barbara and Ventura, have a shot at seeing a little more surf in the morning as the new swell wraps into the region. I don’t think we should expect a big increase…but it will be worth at least looking at the cams, and maybe a real quick drive-by if you live close.

By the afternoon…we can expect the average WNW facing spots to build into the waist-chest high range…and the top spots, mostly through Ventura, to see some chest-shoulder high+ surf. San Diego and South Bay standouts may have some similar sizes by sundown…but it looks like a lot of the energy will arrive after dark. (Curse you short winter days!) Make sure to check out your regional forecast for more details.

Winds are not the greatest looking on Wednesday…the remains of a cold front are expected to push through the area…driving up WNW-NW winds across the region. These look the strongest up towards Santa Barbara and Ventura…and a bit more mellow as you head down towards OC and San Diego. I don’t think it will be all that bad through the morning…mostly light/variable flow early, but it does look like those winds will increase pretty quickly.

Wednesday AM Winds



Wednesday PM winds



I wish that the surf would hurry up and get here...I missed out on the weekend windswell so it feels like forever since we had waves. Unfortunately we will have to wait at least a little longer for the swell mix to fill in. Personally I am going to start checking the beach as the tide drops around lunchtime…hopefully the local winds won’t get too bad before a few new lines start coming in.

Here are the tides…

11/18/2009 Wednesday
02:40AM LST 2.4 L
08:50AM LST 6.0 H
04:26PM LST -0.5 L
10:58PM LST 3.6 H

Links for the regional forecasts…

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

Friday’s Surf – Building SW and WNW swell combo

Friday will be another surf day...but we may see some eddy texture at the more exposed spots.

We will have more of a swell combo on Friday...there will be a mix of building SW swell (190-215 or so), leftover S-SW swell from earlier this week, and building WNW windswell. We already have a little more of the windswell in the water here on Thursday but this will continue to build through the day on Friday and looks like it is going to max out over the weekend. Check out the CDIP 3-day forecast...(take in mind that a lot of the “swell heights” will actually be quite a bit of short-period chop from increasing outer water winds...this isn’t a huge NW swell all of a sudden).



The increasing windswell (and increasing outer water winds) are sort of a mixed blessing...on one hand we are going to get some more cross-up to the southern hemi swells, which will make the beach breaks a bit more fun. But on the other hand the stronger outer water winds spin up the “coastal eddy” which means S-SW winds for many of the more-exposed areas and some steady crumble/texture at spots facing the wrong way.

On Friday...fortunately...it looks like the wind starts off slow...mostly light and variable in the morning with only a couple of small pockets of texture. Look for NW winds around 10-14 knots by the afternoon.



Surfwise we are going to see a lot of waist-chest high waves at the average exposed spots with some chest-shoulder high sets at the best combo breaks. The bigger waves will be more consistent in the afternoon as the mix of S-SW swell fills back in and the local windswell starts to build up as well.

I think that you should be able to find some rideable waves almost all S-SW facing spots...the NW windswell breaks will be a bit soft in the morning. The tides aren’t going to do a lot to help us tomorrow...so you might want to stick with breaks that can handle a little bit more water.

Here are the tides...

01:45AM LDT 0.0 L
07:59AM LDT 3.2 H
12:26PM LDT 2.0 L
06:53PM LDT 6.0 H