Thursday’s Surf – Is the new S here yet? How ‘bout now? Ok, Now? What about now?

Thursday will be rideable…but will probably be a bit on the small side to really call it a surf day for everyone.

Thursday morning will see a mix of local WNW-NW swell and a touch of background SW swell (190-220). This mix, which is already on the small side, will have some tidal issues as well, so watch out for some swampthing as the tide peaks. By the afternoon a new S-SSW swell (180-200) will start to show some very long-period energy (20-22 second stuff) that will begin to filter into the exposed areas.



Most spots will be in the waist-high range with some chest high sets. The NW standouts (mostly in South San Diego) will see some chest-shoulder high sets at the breaks that like the NW windswell. S facing breaks will be smaller…mostly knee-waist high with a few chest high sets at the best breaks through the morning. By the afternoon the S facing spots will be more consistently waist-chest high with some shoulder high sets showing at the top breaks.

Winds look good for the morning…mostly light and variable to light offshore from Ventura on down to San Diego…Santa Barbara may have a little leftover westerly funk. Look for WNW-NW winds around 10-15 knots to build in through the afternoon.



So sort of slow start in the morning…but we have the new S swell filling in through the 2nd half of the day. In my experience with these types of swells…particularly the long-period S swells…we generally see some bigger, but inconsistent sets starting to arrive at the top breaks that can focus this longer-period swell. We shouldn’t expect a universal jump at all S facing breaks, but there will be a few blips starting to show around the end of the day. This swell will fill in more on Thursday night and eventually peak Friday through Saturday.

05/13/2010 Thursday
03:49AM LDT -0.7 L
10:03AM LDT 3.6 H
02:57PM LDT 1.7 L
09:05PM LDT 5.9 H

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

Thursday’s Surf – Picking up…new WNW swell fills in throughout the day

Thursday will be a surf day…BUT…(and it is a big but)…things will start off pretty slow in the morning since the swell doesn’t really start to add much new size until the afternoon.

In the morning we will see a mix of leftover WNW medium period energy, a slight bump in short-period WNW swell, and some micro-lines from the S-SW.

Most spots will continue to hold in the ankle-knee high range with a few waist high waves sneaking through at the better exposed WNW-NW breaks. Spots up around Santa Barbara and Ventura will have a few bigger sets starting to slip in through the morning but don’t expect a really significant increase for the dawn patrol.

The scene at 7am


By the evening new, long-period W-WNW swell (275-300) will be filling in with the initial energy in the 19-20 second period range. Like most swells with these sorts of periods and swell-angles it will be a little fluky, wrapping hard into one spot and skipping past others, so you are going to want to make sure to pick the right spot that can pull in the new energy. Ventura will see a decent bump in size before dark…likely some overhead sets at the best breaks. Spots further south will be around head high.

The scene at 7pm


Winds look good on Thursday…light offshore for the morning and then sort of variable through the middle of the day. Look for a little WNW bump to pick up around SB and Ventura in the afternoon…while the rest of the region sees a mild onshore flow below 10 knots. Looks like there is a decent shot at getting a few waves as the swell fills in during the evening session.



Like I said I would take it easy in the morning, sleep in, do chores…basically put about until the swell starts to show a few lines. With winds being sort of cooperative I think that it with be worth waiting. If you have to pick between the next couple of days for some reason… I would wait out Thursday and plan on surfing Friday (lots more energy showing by the end of the week).

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 (as well as sharks with laser beams!) 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…

01/07/2010 Thursday
02:30AM LST 4.9 H
09:38AM LST 1.2 L
03:06PM LST 3.0 H
08:33PM LST 1.5 L

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

Turkey Day Surf – Clean and holding…with a new NW swell out the back

Thanksgiving will be a marginal surf day…the swell is still a little steeply angled to put many waves at the “average spots”…expect nice conditions but mostly slow inconsistent surf.

In the water we are going to have a mix of holding NW energy (290-300), some background SW swell (200-220) and some local NW windswell.



Average spots are going to see knee-waist high surf through the morning on Thursday. Most of it will be soft and slow, breaking close to shore if your spot can’t handle the tide swings. The better NW facing spots will be more in the waist-high range with some inconsistent chest high sets…again a little soft on the higher tides.

The NW facing standouts in South Ventura, the South Bay, and parts of Central/Southern San Diego, will see consistent waist-chest high+ surf with some shoulder high+ sets mixing in at times. Again plan on slower shape with long waits between the bigger waves through the morning.

Later in the afternoon the new long-period WNW-NW swell (280-300) will start to arrive, showing mostly in the Northerly counties (Santa Barbara, Ventura) before the sun sets. I don’t expect a ton of new size, even in those areas, but there may be some bigger waves pushing through into the indicator spots by late in the day. The rest of Socal may see a bit of an increase in wave-consistency…but not much size until the swell fills in later in the evening.

Winds look good…mostly light and variable to light offshore in the morning. Look for building WNW-NW winds around 10-15 knots for the afternoon.



So the smaller surf will continue on Thursday morning…keeping things slow and soft…but rideable if you have the right equipment (longboards for most people…and maybe some of those retro-fish if you are a lighter surfer). It is the holiday…so expect a crowd pretty much anywhere there are semi-rideable waves. Keep an eye on the NW spots…there is always a chance that we will have a few sneaker sets at those good breaks by the end of the day. Personally I might take out the old ugly stick, surf with the fam, and then go into some sort of turkey coma by the afternoon.

Here are the tides…have a great holiday guys!

11/26/2009 Thursday
04:49AM LST 4.5 H
11:32AM LST 1.8 L
04:50PM LST 3.4 H
10:41PM LST 1.4 L

Friday’s Surf – Building SW swell and a touch of wind

Friday will start off small and inconsistent for most areas…so the early morning won’t be much of a surf day.

However, new SW swell (200-220) will be filling in slowly throughout the day and will help build wave heights as we move into the afternoon. Local NW windswell will also be on the rise but it will be pretty steeply angled (295-300+) and won’t ad much to our surf.




In the morning expect most spots to be in the knee-waist high range, with the sets being fairly inconsistent at times. Standout SW facing spots in San Diego and South Orange County may have rare waist-chest high sets as we move through the early morning low tide.

By the afternoon the SW’er will be starting to get more energy into our exposed spots. The swell will still be pretty SW so don’t expect all of the summer spots to be working…North OC in particular will be shadowed on this part of the swell. By the afternoon/evening we can expect the average spots to start to pull in more consistent waist-chest high sets. Standouts will be more in the chest high range with shoulder high sets becoming more consistent as we head toward sundown.

The winds will be a touch funky tomorrow…the forecast models are calling for some onshore texture from the W-WNW in the morning. Not completely blown out…sort of in the 4-6 knot range for many areas…maybe a touch stronger at the more exposed beaches in SD and OC. The WNW wind is expected to build fast, eventually coming onshore 12-15 knots by the afternoon. This funk is expected to hold around into Saturday but lets cross our fingers that it moves out faster than the models are saying.



So a slow start tomorrow…slow and possibly textured. Personally I would give the surf cams a check before driving very far for a dawn patrol session. I still think that you are going to want to stick to the small-wave or fishy shapes through the morning…but we might be able to start to bust out the normal boards later in the day.

Here are the tides…

04:30AM LDT -0.7 L
10:38AM LDT 5.3 H
04:34PM LDT 0.7 L
10:30PM LDT 5.9 H

Wednesday’s Waves – Starting off slow...really slow

I don’t think that Wednesday is going to be too much of a surf morning...but we will have some new sets slowly filling in through the afternoon.

The swell models are showing our new S-SSW swell (180-210) arriving slowly throughout the day on Wednesday...but I think they are being a little optimistic with the swell period, which they have running at 22-seconds for the start of this swell. Likely what we are going to see is that long-period energy on the buoys in the morning but not much on the beach until later in the day... (and really the swell will be peaking Thursday and Friday at the exposed spots).

Here is a super weather nerd picture...so please skip this section if you just want the surf for tomorrow. This is the actual text output from WavewatchIII (for the 46224 output if it means anything to you guys)...in that part I circled is the new swell...from left to right you have wave height (in meters), swell period, and direction (you have to add 180-degrees for a proper swell angle)...oh and the times are in zulu time which is always a pain in the ass. Anyways it shows that while there are some longer periods there isn’t a ton of “size” behind it tomorrow...at least according to the model and in this case I actually think the computer is overcalling it a bit for tomorrow...



So for actual surf sizes tomorrow...expect a slow dawn patrol with lots of spots holding in the knee high range, and the top spots seeing some rare waist high sets. It will be extra-soft thanks to the higher tide that peaks right at 8am...but we will see some improvement as the tide drops and the swell fills in.

Winds look good...mostly light and variable through the morning. W-winds around 10-12+ knots for the afternoon.

I think that you should take the morning slow...there isn’t going to be much out there (and the tide will kill what is left)...so you will basically be in the water to enjoy the weather/experience rather than surfing. If you were going to be a bit more opportunistic...I would keep an eye on the cameras and the winds during the afternoon as the swell starts to fill in a bit more.

Here are the tides

02:18AM LDT 0.5 L
08:09AM LDT 4.1 H
02:07PM LDT 0.7 L
08:13PM LDT 5.2 H