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