Thursday’s Surf – Combo of S-SW swell and local NW windswell continues

Thursday look pretty surfable…the swell mix isn’t all that big, but conditions look a little cleaner in the morning than the last couple of days.

In the water we are going to see a mix of S and SW swells (180-220) along with some increasing WNW-NW windswell. The southern hemi swells are all fairly small, but there are 2 new ones filling in on remnants from earlier in the week, so they will be able to keep the surf rideable. The windswell is coming up a notch as well…which should help to show a little more combo at the exposed spots.



Sizewise…we are going to see waist-chest high surf at most of the average S facing spots…maybe a touch bigger on the midmorning tide push. The standout S-SW facing breaks and top combo breaks will be more consistently in the chest high range with a few chest-shoulder high sets sneaking around the lower tides.

Winds look a little better on Thursday…the eddy circulation is supposed to back down tonight and hold over into Thursday morning (though I never really trust sir Edward to behave). So for the morning I am expecting mostly light and variable winds for most areas with a touch of onshore texture showing up in Santa Barbara and down in South SD. Winds should be below 5-knots for most areas…and probably lighter than that if you have something to block the wind a little bit. Look for W winds to come onshore fairly strong in the afternoon. Most areas will have W-WNW winds around 12-15 knots with some gusts hitting close to 20-knots by late afternoon.





Looks like the morning will be our best bet tomorrow...it should be semi-rideable at most breaks…even the windswell will be able to scare up a few knee-waist high lines at the purely NW facing spots. The S-SW facing breaks, mostly through OC and parts of San Diego, will have the most size…but don’t expect a lot of consistency even in those areas. I would probably stick to your small wave gear…it will help squeeze a little more fun out of the smaller in-betweeners while we wait for the bigger sets.

Here are the tides…watch the low that hits through midmorning…it isn’t a negative low, but it will still be a bit drainy.

07/01/2010 Thursday
07:09AM LDT 0.4 L
01:48PM LDT 3.9 H
07:12PM LDT 2.4 L

Thursday’s Surf – S-SW swell mixing with local windswell

I am going to call Thursday surfable and potentially even fun if conditions cooperate…but there is still some eddy showing on the weather charts so don’t be surprised by some onshore texture in a few of the more wind sensitive beaches.

The S-SW swell (190-210) will continue to hold on Thursday, though the swell period continues to back off. NW windswell will hold in the background and should have enough energy to cross up the Southern Hemi at the combo spots.



Most spots will be in waist-chest high range with some chest high+ sets showing at the better SW facing breaks and good combo spots. The standout S-SW facing spots and excellent combo breaks will be in the chest-shoulder high range with a couple of bigger sets sneaking through now and then.

Winds are still being a bit of a pain…there is high-pressure building aloft but the surface winds are still showing some eddy circulation…so actual morning conditions are going to depend on how these two features mix together. Right now it looks like winds will be mostly clean in the morning…light SE-ESE for Ventura down through LA and light S-SE for Orange County down through San Diego...with all of the areas seeing winds under 5-6 knots. Again we might see these winds come out on either side of the 5 knots, it just depends on how much the surface winds are influenced by the building ridge of high-pressure. The afternoon does look a bit bumpier…W-SW winds around 10-15 knots for the more exposed areas.

COAMPS


NOAA/NWS




Overall it looks like we will have some playful surf tomorrow…and if the wind cooperates, staying below 5 knots or coming out of good direction, then it will be pretty fun. I am planning checking the winds early…I think the cleanest conditions will show through the morning till about midmorning (7-10am). If you live more than 15-20 minutes from the beach you might want to give the cams and wind-obs a check before committing too much time. If you just have to go, no matter what, your best bet would be to stick with spots with some wind protection…something like a structure, kelp, or high-cliffs…that can help block out the bump if the winds switch around too early.

Here are the tides…

06/03/2010 Thursday
01:15AM LDT 3.9 H
08:52AM LDT 0.7 L
04:00PM LDT 3.7 H
09:35PM LDT 2.6 L

Eddy for Wednesday – extra helping of funky chicken

Wednesday does not look like much of surf day.

In the water there will be a bit of holding S-SW swell (190-210) that mixes with some increasing NW windswell, and touch of medium period WNW-NW swell (285-300), but increasing S-SW eddy winds will hamper conditions and all but the most protected spots will be pretty sloppy.



Most spots will be in waist high range with some chest high sets showing at the better SW facing breaks. The standout S-SW facing spots and excellent combo breaks will be in the chest-shoulder high range with a couple of bigger sets showing on the tide push.

The eddy circulation holds on Wednesday… S-SE for SD and Orange County in the morning but turning SW-WSW 7-12 knots by midmorning. The winds will be more N-NNW’erly for the passes and canyons in Ventura and Santa Barbara…with increasing NW winds as you get closer to Point Conception. LA county, in particular the South Bay, will be fairly clean with the winds blowing closer to offshore out of the SE but those winds do shift onshore by midmorning and we can expect a sloppy W-WSW 10-15 knots by the afternoon.



Overall shape doesn’t look that great…but spots with some protection from the S winds (yet still open to the S-SW swell mix) will be manageable for the dawn patrol…of course you will have to watch the low-tide…it is enough to drive you a little batty. Since there is swell in the water you should spend a few minutes checking conditions whenever your surf window opens up…these spring eddy’s can sometimes spin themselves out around midmorning, right before the marine-layer/june gloom/overcast burns off.

Here are the tides…

06/02/2010 Wednesday
12:24AM LDT 4.4 H
08:07AM LDT 0.3 L
03:11PM LDT 3.6 H
07:57PM LDT 2.8 L