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!)

Weekend Waves - Even more SW swell (yeah for swell!)

Saturday and Sunday will both be surf days.

Saturday is going to see a mix of steady SW swell (190-220) and some background local NW windswell. Most spots will continue to see chest-shoulder high surf while the standouts in Orange County and San Diego see shoulder-head high+ waves.

Sunday there will actually be another SW pulse (200-220) joining the mix, overlapping the existing SW swell, all of which will blend with the background NW windswell. Sunday expect a touch more size as the average exposed breaks build into chest-head high surf and the standout SW facing breaks move back into the consistent head high and overhead ranges.

Weather and winds look very similar to Friday...expect mostly light/variable to light S winds and overcast skies through the mornings and W-NW winds around 10-15 knots (along with sunny skies) during the afternoons. Depending on how strong wind circulation is throughout the day, you may see the wind lay down really late in the afternoon/evening...not enough for a glass-off but worth keeping an eye on if you live close to the beach.

SW facing points and reefs will be the best call this weekend...(if the beach breaks had a chance it was on Friday but the ones in my neck of the woods never really started working all that well...just a lot of lumpy closed out lefts and super short rights through the wind creases). South Orange County and North San Diego will see the biggest sizes...and probably the best shape thanks to all those quality points and reefs they have around those areas. There will be some decent waves at the top SW facing spots in other areas but expect the surf to be smaller and less consistent.

I would try and get on it early...both to avoid the crowd factor and to try and beat the wind that has been screwing up the shape by midday. Spots with a little protection from the southerly winds will probably be a safer call than the wide-open breaks...just so you can avoid the eddy texture if the winds spin up too much overnight.

Have a great weekend and an excellent Father's Day!

(oh and check back I will be posting the San Onofre Break Maps this weekend)