Surf for Tuesday – A little more SSW swell

Tuesday is looking like a surf day...nothing big or all that special...but with clean morning conditions and enough swell for us to go out and have some fun.

Swellwise we are going to have a new SSW swell (190-205) that will blend in with fading S-SW swell (180-200) from the weekend as well as some NW leftovers and background local windswell. You can see the older S-SW’er showing on this afternoon’s CDIP analysis...expect this to shift a little more to the southwest as the new swell fills in tomorrow.



Wave height for Tuesday will be in the waist-chest high range at the average S facing breaks. The better exposed combo breaks will be a bit more consistently chest high. Standout SSW facing breaks, mostly through Orange County and parts of San Diego, will be a touch bigger with inconsistent sets showing in the chest-shoulder high range.

Winds look good with most spots seeing light and variable conditions through the morning and a few select areas seeing some slightly offshore flow. WNW winds move in through the afternoon and should top out in the 10-12 knot range, which may let a few of the more protected spots see somewhat manageable bump...there is enough of a chance that it will be worth keeping an eye on those protected areas.



Like I said it looks fun tomorrow, not great, but at least surfable in most areas and playful at the top breaks. I think that all types of spots (points/reefs/beach-breaks) will all have their attractions tomorrow...but nothing that looks like it will stand out all that much. The building tide will end up being pretty brutal to shape as it peaks around lunchtime...expect most spots to get swampy to almost shut down by the time the tide peaks...I would try and avoid it as best you can.

Here are the tides...

12:00AM LDT 3.9 H
05:18AM LDT 1.8 L
11:32AM LDT 5.6 H
06:52PM LDT 0.5 L

Waves for the weekend – plan on surfing...a lot.

Both Saturday and Sunday are going to be surf days...so plan on setting a few hours aside to ride some waves this weekend.

The playful NW/SW combo that we have been seeing the last few days will get some reinforcement as both a new NW swell (290-300) and a new SSW (180-200) mix in over the weekend. The NW’er will actually peak late Friday night but will hold waves through Saturday before dipping slightly on Sunday. The SSW’er will fill in slowly on Saturday and will peak into early Sunday, holding waves into the start of next week.



So for the weekend...look for surf to hang around waist-chest high+ at the average exposed breaks. Better NW facing spots will be closer to chest-shoulder high range on Saturday, and the better SSW facing breaks will be chest-shoulder high on Sunday. The top combo spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high sets throughout the weekend. A few of the best breaks might see some slightly bigger peaks as the swells cross up on the sets.

Winds look good for both Saturday and Sunday morning. We can expect light and variable to slightly offshore conditions from the dawn patrol through midmorning. Building onshore flow picks up around lunchtime but only really hits the westerly 10-12 knot range by later in the afternoon. Sunday may see the wind pick up a little earlier...so if you want to avoid the bump you might want to try and motivate closer to sunup.

Saturday Morning Winds


Sunday Morning Winds


The mix of swells is going to send playful rideable waves to spots all over Southern California...but please keep in mind that Santa Barbara will be a bit smaller thanks to shadowing from Point Conception and the Channel Islands. North LA, particularly as you get close to Santa Monica, will also be a touch smaller thanks to being tucked back into a more shadowed area. It won’t be flat in either area...just don’t expect as much combo-funness as the other more exposed spots.

The biggest surf is going to be showing in San Diego, Southern Ventura, and parts of Orange County...and will shift around those regions as the NW and SSW swells peak. I think that the combo beach breaks will be the most fun...especially if they have some decent sandbars and/or can handle a little fatter of a tide that hits midday. The points and reefs will be good too, but may be a touch shifty compared to how they behave on the pure single swells. Personally I am going to try and crawl out of bed for the dawn patrols on both mornings...the high tide is slowly pushing closer to lunchtime so I think there is going to be a better window for clean, tide-pushed, surf through the first part of the day.

Here are the tides...have a great weekend...hope you score a playful little peak of your own (there will be plenty out there). Definitely watch that midmorning high tide...it is a swampthing.

Saturday
03:50AM LDT 0.2 L
09:55AM LDT 5.9 H
04:23PM LDT 0.0 L
10:21PM LDT 5.2 H

Sunday
04:21AM LDT 0.8 L
10:26AM LDT 6.0 H
05:09PM LDT 0.0 L
11:08PM LDT 4.6 H

Thursday's Surf - see I told you...less earthquakes

Actually the S swell showed up as well on Wednesday...as well as us having less earthquakes...which I sort of consider a win-win for everyone.

Thursday will be another surf day and hopefully earthquake free as well...(ok that was the last earthquake reference).

The S swell that we had roll in today will continue into Thursday and mix with some SW pulses as well as a bit of WNW energy. Most spots will see surf in the waist-chest high range with some shoulder high sets at breaks that get some of the S swell.

Standout S facing surf spots, mostly in Orange County, will have surf in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high and head high+ sets sneaking through on the lower tides.

Winds look good through the morning again...still some chance at a bit of weak eddy circulation at times...but mostly clean, maybe some slight onshore texture showing through SD and parts of OC. Expect onshore afternoon winds out of the W-NW around 10-15 knots.

Looks like OC, some parts of North LA, and the very southern areas of Ventura County, will be doing the best on this swell...here is a great graphic showing the southerly swell shadows/windows. You can really see the green/light-green load up on North OC, which (*tah-dah*) is generally the most exposed to this swell direction.




It is also worth checking out how South San Diego gets sort of hosed by the swell refraction...a lot of energy that should show through that area is pulled into Northern Baja.

Anyway this is a pretty decent swell...not worth taking work off for or anything...but definitely worth checking your local S facing standouts. Look for the biggest waves through the OC area...but playful sizes in the other exposed areas. The morning will be the cleanest but you are going to need to work around the tidal swing...the higher tides have been steamrolling the shape...so try and plan around both the tides and the wind if you can.