Waves for Wednesday – Slow drop…but still a few fun ones

Wednesday will have some rideable waves but the race between the dropping high tide and the building onshore wind may keep most spots from getting very good.

WNW-NW swell (280-300) will be slowly fading through the day on Wednesday…dropping pretty quickly for spots up through Ventura and Santa Barbara while lingering a little longer down toward San Diego. There will be a slight bump up in S-SSW swell (180-210) that fills in throughout the day…but overall expect most of our waves coming out of the WNW.



Average W-WNW facing spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some rare head high sets at spots that like the higher tides. The standout WNW-NW breaks, mostly through the South Bay, South San Diego, and parts of Ventura, will have more consistent shoulder-head high set waves with a few overhead waves still mixing in. Thanks to the morning high tide the shape will be a bit soft and the bigger sets a bit less consistent…there should be some improvement as the tide drops through midmorning.

The forecast models are backing off the winds for Wednesday morning…so, if this latest cold front moves around like it is supposed to, we will likely see some clean conditions for the morning. Look for light and variable winds early on...then sort of moderate onshore bump picking up through midmorning and into the afternoon, eventually topping out 10-15 knots out of the NW.



It is nice to see the onshore bump that was forecast for Wednesday slipping out of the wind model…it lets us get a little more of this WNW swell before it backs down too far. Even though the winds look lighter I am not expecting “great” surf on Wednesday...it will probably just be one of those serviceable swells, rideable but not super exciting. Thanks to that stupid morning high tide you are going to want to stick with spots that can handle the extra water…either that or wait and roll the dice that the tide drops faster than the wind can come onshore.


I think these are loaded...

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…

01/27/2010 Wednesday
06:07AM LST 6.0 H
01:42PM LST -1.2 L
08:07PM LST 3.6 H

Surf for Tuesday – Fading but fun WNW’er

Tuesday will be a surf day.

Our WNW swell mix (280-300) will be fading but will still manage to hold onto plenty of fun-sized surf. A small mix of S-SW swells will hold in the background but won’t do much more than crease up a few corners at the combo spots that can pull in both swells.



Look for average spots to continue to see consistent chest-shoulder high surf. Better WNW facing breaks see some chest-head high sets and the Standout NW spots (in Ventura, the South Bay, and South San Diego) see more consistent shoulder-overhead surf with a few sets still going overhead+ through the morning at spots that can help power through the morning high tides.

Winds look good for the morning…mostly light and variable to light/moderate offshore. Looks like most of the offshore flow will be through Santa Barbara and down through Northern LA. Spots further south will have lighter, but still clean, conditions on tap. Look for WNW winds around 10-15 knots to push in through the afternoon.



Overall I think that we are still going to have plenty of fun despite the fading swell…there will be enough energy in the lower-periods of this swell that even though we don’t get the full on dumpers that were coming through on Sunday/Monday it will probably start to feel more workable, and a few of the spots that shun the longer-period energy will actually start to work a bit more. If you can I would probably try to wait out or avoid the early morning high tide…it hurt shape in a lot of spots…but if you can’t you will definitely want to stick with breaks that have the WNW exposure AND can handle a high tide.

Speaking of which…here they are.

12/29/2009 Tuesday
06:20AM LST 6.2 H (smells a little swampy)
01:59PM LST -1.1 L
08:25PM LST 3.5 H