Swell Alert: S-swell for early next week (better conditions too!)

So a few days ago I mentioned a S swell that was going to be hitting early next week...then I got so freaking busy that I didn’t have time to get into the details. Anyway I am a giant swell-tease...but I am back to deliver.

We are going to see another good shot of S swell (180-190) heading towards California and Baja...which will also hit Mainland Mexico and Central America from more of a SSW-SW’erly (200-220) swell direction.

The storm that kicked out this S-SW swell (depending on where you are) actually spun up over last weekend. It wasn’t super strong, winds held consistently around 30-40 knots with some stronger gusts, but it had a number of good things going for it.

1. It was well positioned in our swell window
2. It moved closer than most storms get (the fetch actually pushed north of 30-south latitude)
3. It moved directly towards California/Baja (and Mexico/Central America)
4. It had a long lifespan (there were still some remnants of fetch holding together as of yesterday)
5. I heard Chuck Norris started it by kung-fu chopping a great white shark off the coast of Australia

In any case it looks like we should have some good S-SW swell arriving through the early part of next week.



Here are the details for each of the regions...

Mainland Mexico and Central America
The swell will hit Mexico/Central America on Saturday and peak Sunday-Monday before very slowly fading through the middle of next week. Look for consistent overhead surf through the region with some of the deepwater spots like Puerto Escondido seeing double overhead sizes.

Baja Sur
For Baja Sur we can expect the S swell to arrive at similar times...so the first part of the energy arrives on Saturday and the peak of the swell hits Sunday and Monday. It will be a bit smaller for this region...look for consistent shoulder-head high surf for the average S facing spots while the standouts see overhead waves with some sets going 1-2’ overhead at times.

Southern California and Baja Norte
Southern California will see the swell arrive on Sunday, with the peak of the swell arriving Monday and Tuesday. Locally the weather over the weekend for SoCal is going to be a bit crappy...but conditions start to improve about the same time the swell fills in. It also looks like we are going to see a decent WNW swell (290-300) arriving about the same time...(man I love combo swells!)...it won’t be a big WNW’er but it should help break up the S swell. Sizewise we can expect surf in the chest-head high range for most of the S facing spots. Standout S facing areas, particularly regions like Orange County, will have overhead sets. The swell will eventually start to fade on Wednesday...but expect it to continue to send in some rideable sizes through the end of the week.

Overall for SoCal it isn't going to be a huge swell...but there will be plenty of waves for most of the exposed spots, and the swell should have some legs...so, (weather permitting), we will get a few days of fun surf.