Waves for the weekend – Smaller swell but still fun…but with weather out the back

Both Saturday and Sunday look like surf days…but expect some increasing clouds and possibly a little wind/rain later in the day on Sunday. Next week looks really wet.

Swellwise we are going to see slightly fading W-WNW (275-300) energy on Saturday, still mostly leftovers from earlier in the week. Then on Sunday we are going to get some reinforcement of WNW swell (280-300) coming out of the approaching storm front. The swell periods don’t look particularly long…sort of around the 10-12+14 second range…so expect sort of a storm/punchy-windswell feel to things as we move into Sunday.





Sizewise both days look pretty similar…the average W facing breaks will be in the chest-shoulder high range with inconsistent head high+ sets. The tides will screw with it a little bit so try and work around the high-tide peak that hits in the midmorning. The top WNW-NW standouts in Ventura, the South Bay, and Southern San Diego, will have more consistent surf in the shoulder-overhead range with some bigger sets still sneaking through at times. Sunday may be a little more consistent…but the conditions don’t look like they are going to hold together for all that long.

Winds look good on Saturday…mostly light and variable to light offshore for the morning and mostly weak onshore winds in the afternoon. Basically it should stay surfable for the first half of the day and then see some marginal bump at the well exposed spots in the afternoon.



Sunday will start out with light/variable winds but with a touch of southerly flow starting to creep in. T he S-SSE winds will continue to strengthen as we move throughout the day and the chance of rain increases as well, with heavy rain very likely starting by Sunday night.



Overall…it looks like a fun weekend…nothing super special but still plenty playful, particularly on Saturday. The points and reefs will continue to have the best shape…since the sand is now pretty tweaked at the beach breaks…but there may be a few more makeable corners spread around as the swell backs off and the swell periods shorten up.

Make sure to read the regional forecasts for more details on how the swell will affect each county.

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…hope you guys have a good one.

01/16/2010 Saturday
03:03AM LST 1.9 L
09:00AM LST 5.5 H
04:13PM LST -0.5 L
10:30PM LST 3.8 H

01/17/2010 Sunday
03:38AM LST 1.8 L
09:31AM LST 5.2 H
04:38PM LST -0.3 L
10:57PM LST 3.9 H

Friday's Surf - Slightly smaller with cleaner conditions

Friday will be a surf day.

Overall the conditions will be a lot better than Thursday…and even though the W-WNW swell will be backing off, there will still be plenty of waves leftover.

Swellwise we are going to see a mix of slowly dropping W-WNW swell (275-300) and some virtually undetectable SW energy holding in the background. The W-WNW swell will be backing down in both overall size and swell period…with the main part of the energy shifting from the 14-16 second stuff we had on Thursday to more of a 12-13 second swell period (and some shorter stuff) on Friday. Normally this isn’t worth mentioning too much…but on this guy it means that spots that wrapped in swell at longer-periods won’t be as big as the last couple of days, and a few areas that like shorter-periods will pull in a little more size and consistency, which is a little funky.



Sizewise we can expect the average W facing breaks to see surf in the chest-head high range with some overhead sets still mixing in, particularly on the lower tides. The better WNW spots, usually in the “winter” areas, will have shoulder-overhead surf and inconsistent overhead+ sets.

Top WNW-NW facing spots in Ventura, the South Bay, and Southern San Diego, will have more consistent surf in the head high to a couple of feet overhead, with some bigger sets still sneaking through at times. Overall it will be a bit smaller, and the bigger sets less consistent, but there will still be plenty of waves.

Conditions look good for tomorrow…even great in a few areas. Look for E winds around 10-15 knots for the morning with some stronger gusts near the wind-prone passes and canyons. These winds will stick around most of the morning before going more light/variable for the afternoon. Also, with this sort of conditions, the chances of an evening glass-off are pretty high…so keep an eye on things if you are stuck at work, you might get a few before sunset.



I still think the points and reefs are going to have the best shape…there is still a bit too much energy for the average beach break to do much more than close out...but you might check the spots that have something to break up the swell if you are too far away from a point/reef. Keep in mind that the sand bars at the exposed beaches are going to be a mess, hopefully the rain next week will help form some new ones. I would stick to your high-performance boards for tomorrow…but you might be able to dial it back a little, going for a better all-round board vs your bigger wave gear.

Make sure to read the regional forecasts for more details on how the swell will affect each county.

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…hope you guys have a good one.

01/15/2010 Friday
02:30AM LST 2.0 L
08:30AM LST 5.7 H
03:46PM LST -0.7 L
10:04PM LST 3.7 H

Transworld SURF Forecast – New Forecast is up

My latest forecast is up over at the TransworldSURF website…not many changes for the Socal portion of the forecast but the Hawaii and Norcal sections are both seeing some solid surf. Check it out when you get a chance…maybe if you guys leave enough comments they will let me put my name at the top.

http://surf.transworld.net/features/west-coast-and-hawaiian-islands-surf-forecast/

Surf for Tuesday – Dropping…just a little bit

Tuesday will be a surf day.

The W-WNW swell (270-300 but with the prime swell around 285-300) that peaked Sunday/Monday will be slowly fading on Tuesday…fortunately the storm that produced the swell had some legs so there will still be plenty of energy sloshing around.



Average spots with some W exposure will hold in the chest-shoulder high range and pull in a few bigger sets during the lower tides. Top WNW-NW spots, in the usual Ventura, South Bay, and San Diego areas, will see shoulder-head high surf with some sets going overhead at times…San Diego looks like it will be the most exposed, but the shorter swell periods do nice things to both Ventura and South Bay breaks, so it will be sort of a wash.

Winds look good for the morning…light and variable conditions will be on tap for most areas, even a little bit offshore for a few of the windier spots. Look for variable winds to continue up through lunch and then shift a touch more onshore for the afternoon. Looks like the winds will be light enough that the more protected spots will stay fairly surfable throughout the day.



So plenty of surf on tap for tomorrow…even a bit of decent size at the best exposed areas. Really it just looks like the surf will lose a bit of its “punch” rather than much size. Points and reefs will continue to be the best call…the beach breaks have mostly just been lined up closeouts. You are definitely going to want to check the exposed points/reefs first, and then the beach breaks that have something to break up the swell as a backup. Overall the right breaks look like they will be pretty fun tomorrow…I just wish that we had something to cross up the W-WNW energy.

Make sure to read the regional forecasts for more details.

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…

01/12/2010 Tuesday
12:40AM LST 2.3 L
06:48AM LST 5.7 H
02:19PM LST -0.8 L
08:46PM LST 3.6 H

Southern California Long-range Surf Forecast – 12/28/2009

Forecast Overview

WNW energy begins fading on Tuesday and backs down through midweek when then weather will get a bit wonky. Look for cleaner conditions and new WNW-NW energy moving in on New Years even and into New Years day. Plenty more where that came from too, looks like lots of waves in the forecast. Though with the water so cold I am thinking about getting one of those heated wetsuit thingies.

Short Range (next 4 days)

Tuesday
Our WNW swell mix (280-300) will be fading, losing both size and seeing the swell period drop down into the 13-14 second ranges. Small S-SW swells continue to hold in the background but don’t add a ton of size to the swell mix. Look for average spots to continue to see consistent chest-shoulder high surf. Better WNW facing breaks see some chest-head high sets and the Standout NW spots (in Ventura, the South Bay, and South San Diego) see more consistent shoulder-overhead surf with a few sets still going overhead+ through the morning. Winds/Weather: Winds look good for the morning…mostly light and variable to light/moderate offshore. Looks like most of the offshore flow will be through Santa Barbara and down through Northern LA. Spots further south will have lighter, but still clean, conditions on tap. Look for WNW winds around 10-15 knots to push in through the afternoon.



Wednesday
The WNW swell continues to drop and turn a touch more NW’erly in swell direction as we move throughout the day. The average spots will fade down into the waist-chest high range while the standout NW breaks see some chest-shoulder high surf and rare bigger sets on the lower tides. Winds/Weather: Weather starts to get a little funky looking through the midweek…NW winds are forecast to spin up in the outer waters, setting up a bit of an eddy-looking circulation near the Coast. Look for NW winds around 10-13 knots for Santa Barbara/Ventura…sort of SE-ESE through LA, and S-SSE for San Diego and OC. Overall I am not expecting great conditions through Wednesday…and we might even see a touch of rain/drizzle as the front driving these winds pushes through the area.



Thursday – New Year's Eve
We see a new pulse of WNW-NW energy (285-300) that comes through in the form of both local windswell and a bit of medium period energy from storms a touch further off the coast. Most spots will continue to see surf in the waist-chest high range with some inconsistent shoulder high waves moving through by the afternoon. Look for the top NW spots to be in the chest-head high range with some bigger waves moving in by the end of the day. Winds/Weather: Weather will improve on Thursday as new ridge of high-pressure starts to rebuild over Socal. Look for mostly light and variable to light offshore winds for the morning and just moderate NW flow around 10-12 knots developing through the afternoon.



Friday – New Year's Day
Mix of windswell and medium-period WNW-NW energy (285-300) continues on Friday, possibly even filling in a little better down towards San Diego (compared to how it did on Thursday). Most spots continue with the chest-shoulder high surf while the top NW facing spots hold more in the chest-head high range with some head high+ sets. Winds/Weather: Looks nice at this point…mostly light and variable winds and slightly warmer beach temps. Expect clean conditions through the morning and light/mild onshore flow through the mid-afternoon.




Long-Range

North Pacific
There is still a lot of stuff going on in the NPAC with plenty of storm activity roaming around in our swell window. At this point it looks like we have a series of overlapping WNW-NW swells headed our way for at minimum the next 7-8 days and very likely more on the way after that.

Check out the current set up…I know that I have mentioned the term “complex low-pressure” in the past, well we have another one developing. Basically there is a fairly stationary low pressure holding over the Aleutians/Bering Sea that is helping to swing a train of storms through the mid-latitudes.



Based on this forecast and what has formed over last few days…we can expect the current WNW swell mix to back down through mid-week, never quite dropping out completely but definitely smaller than Mon/Tues. Then new WNW-NW energy arrives on Thursday and helps to hold us in fun-size+ surf through Thurs/Friday. More overlapping pulses of WNW swell hit on Saturday and Sunday and it looks like more on tap for Monday and Tuesday of next week.

What is really interesting about this latest run is the larger low-pressure that is set to form on the last frame of the animation. (I stall out the video so you can check it out). Basically it looks like the “anchor-low” in the upper latitudes swings around and scoops up a warmer low-pressure and pulls it into some extra-tropical goodness. This helps to generate a much larger and more intense system…check out how it shows on the wavewatchIII swell model.



As you can see it looks like a large shot of WNW swell heading for Hawaii by mid-next week (5-6th). If you measure out the distance it looks like Socal would see this swell on the 8-10th…likely peaking more on the 9-10th but depending on how much energy is cranked out in the longer-periods. It is way to early to guess on sizes but if it lives up to even this portion of the forecast it could be good for at least some overhead+ surf at the top spots. I will keep you posted as we get closer.

South Pacific
Is this still an ocean? I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on the South Pacific…the NPAC is definitely picking up all of the slack, but man it would be nice to have a bit more combo to the swell. At this point there aren’t really any sort of significant Southern Hemi swells in the water, and none on the forecast. We are mostly just going to see a low-level background buzz of SW energy that never really stops but never really does anything for us either. Long-range charts are showing a slightly better looking SW pulse (but still very shadowed and small compared to the NPAC energy) hitting around Jan 10th.

Next Long-range forecast will be posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Adam Wright
Surf Forecaster
http://www.socalsurf.com/

Surf For Monday – Back in the Saddle

Monday is going to be a surf day…in some places a very good surf day

Our pretty solid WNW swell (280-300) will be holding through Monday morning, well really throughout the whole day, but losing a little steam by the afternoon. There is a small mix of S-SW swells that are hiding in the background but it seems like they are mostly getting steamrolled by the stronger NPAC swell, but will occasionally throw a crease into the longer WNW lines at the really good combo spots.



Surfwise…look for the average W-WNW facing breaks to have surf in the chest-head high range with some overhead sets mixing in. Better WNW spots, with more direct exposure to the swell, will be in the shoulder-overhead range with sets going a couple of feet overhead at times.

Standout NW facing breaks, like those in Ventura, the South Bay, and San Diego (particularly Southern San Diego), will have consistent surf in the head high to a couple-of-feet-overhead range with some sets going a few feet overhead…maybe a little bigger on better parts of the tide swing.

Weather/wind look good tomorrow…look for light to moderate offshore winds through the morning…going mostly NE for Ventura and Santa Barbara and then shifting more ENE’erly as you head down into LA, OC, and SD. Winds are expected to stay light most of the day…shifting a little more northerly by later in the afternoon. If we get lucky it looks like clean conditions could stick around in many spots for most of the day. Man I love winter winds.



Points and Reefs are definitely going to have the best, most makeable, shape…with points/reefs in Ventura, the South Bay and San Diego seeing the most size. Beach breaks will be pretty lined up unless you are lucky enough to have some sort of structure to break things up or a serious sandbar. The water is freaking cold, might be worth breaking out the 4/3.

Here are the tides…hope you guys had a good Christmas!

12/28/2009 Monday

05:36AM LST 5.8 H
01:18PM LST -0.5 L
07:43PM LST 3.3 H
11:59PM LST 2.2 L

Swell Update – WNW’er starting to show out there

The new WNW swell is starting to come in with some really long-period energy this afternoon...nearly 22-24 seconds...and a decent swell size, depending on where you are, already showing about 2-5-feet of deepwater energy with the larger sizes closer to Point Conception.

Check out the Harvest Buoy (which will always show the swell bigger and earlier thanks to its position).



And here are a couple of surf-camera screenshots that I grabbed before sundown…





Looks like some fun on tap for tomorrow (and Thursday.)

Southern California Long-range Surf Forecast – 12/07/2009

Forecast Overview

Stormy conditions and building wind/storm swell continue through Tuesday. Cleaner conditions and a much larger dose of WNW swell move in on Wednesday. The swell peaks on Thursday just in time for more rain/wind to start to arrive. More weather funk and WNW swell hold through Friday and then slowly start winding down through the next weekend.

Short Range (next 4 days)

8Tuesday
We seen an increase in W-WNW swell (270-300 and mostly short-medium period energy from this storm sending in the rain), while some small SW energy hides in the background. Most spots can expect surf in the chest-shoulder high range while the standout WNW-NW facing breaks, mostly in Ventura, the South Bay, and San Diego, see surf in the chest-head high range with some head high sets mixing in. Winds/Weather: The storm will be moving out on Tuesday but there will be some “clearing” NW winds moving in as the storm moves out. Looks like NW winds around 10-15 knots on tap for most of the day…possibly strengthening a bit by midday and then backing down in the evening.



Wednesday
The new larger WNW swell (280-300) starts to arrive on Wednesday mixing in with fading W-WNW wind/storm swell, and some background SW energy. Santa Barbara and Ventura will start to see new energy through the first part of the day but spots further south will be working with mostly leftovers through the dawn patrol. By the afternoon the swell will really start to get going and we can expect consistent shoulder-overhead surf for most W facing beaches. Better exposed WNW-NW facing breaks will be running consistently head high to a couple of feet overhead and the top standout NW facing spots, mostly through San Diego, will be seeing bigger sets…probably getting close to double-overhead range as the sun sets. Winds/Weather: Not bad overall…look for light and variable winds in the morning with some variable onshore flow through the afternoon. Mostly clear skies and clean conditions for the more protected areas. Water quality is going to be pretty bad from Tuesday though.



Thursday
The WNW swell (280-300) will peak and hold through the day. Expect the average W facing breaks to hold in the chest-head high range with consistent sets going overhead+. The better WNW facing spots, particularly those in Ventura, the South Bay, and San Diego, will be running in the shoulder-overhead range with sets going a few feet overhead on the better tides. Top standout breaks, again mostly in San Diego, will be in the consistent overhead range with waves going several feet overhead to the double-overhead range. Winds/Weather: Another storm front begins moving through the northerly counties on Thursday so Santa Barbara and Ventura will have SE winds 10-15 knots, with stronger gusts and rain on tap. LA down through San Diego will have lighter SE winds…and less rain…but expect the winds to build out of the S by later in the day.



Friday
The WNW swell will hold into the morning and continue to push in solid surf throughout the day. Sizewise things will stay similar to Thursday but with slightly shorter periods and a little less consistency. Look for more consistently overhead surf at the W facing breaks and the top NW facing spots to go several feet+ overhead. The standout breaks will have some bigger waves mixing in at times. Winds/Weather: More storm funkiness continues to move through the area…S winds around 5-10 knots will be on tap for most regions and stronger S-SE winds 10-20+ knots will blow up around Point Conception. Rain and cloudy skies will continue throughout the day…look on the good side…the local mountains will get a giant white poop laid down just in time for the holidays!



Long-Range

North Pacific
After watching the “biggest storm in the history of mankind!” (please detect the sarcasm in that last statement) form over the weekend I think we are right on pace to see a pretty legit WNW swell for the middle/end of this week. Do I think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread? No I don’t…sliced bread is pretty damn good…and really I think that with the weather/wind and now runoff issues the swell won’t be able to live up to the hype that is being heaped on it. In reality we are going to see a large, very consistent, lump of WNW swell that will have plenty of problems with tide, shape, currents, weather, and wind…enough that most people aren’t going to score a ton of surf out of it. Anyway enough of me being a Debbie downer…here are the details. Once again thanks to Mark @ www.stormsurf.com for letting me poach the occasional image...please visit his website when you get a chance (by which I mean right after you look at mine).



The big WNW swell (280-300 with the primary part of the incoming energy in the 290-300-degree range…but enough energy in the 275-290 degree range to get some sort of surf to most places.) fills in throughout the day on Wednesday the 9th with the energy peaking Thursday the 10th and then holding surf into Friday and the following weekend before it slowly fades out. At this point I am expecting consistent shoulder-overhead surf at the average WNW facing breaks…and then solid well-overhead to double-overhead sizes at the standout NW breaks as this baby peaks. There is a good chance that Central and Southerly San Diego County standouts will have even more size since those areas have more exposure to the NW energy.


Random image…this swell hitting Buoy 51001, the NW Hawaii buoy.

Further out thanks to a lot of energy from this big system (and a couple of embedded fronts that followed the big one) we will have W-WNW swell continuing into Socal for most of next weekend and into early next week…The size will drop off and the swell periods will definitely shorten up but we can expect rideable chest-shoulder high+ sizes at the average spots through Sunday. Even Further out in looks like another decent sized storm will form in the wake of this current system…possibly setting up another round of WNW swell for around the 14-15th…more details as this one forms.

South Pacific
Still a few background pulses of SW energy will be filtering through this weekend…nothing bigger than waist-chest high at the best breaks, but still some energy nonetheless. Looks like a slightly bigger SW’er (200-220) will move in on the 8th and peak into the 9th with surf in the waist-chest high range, but with most of the energy being swallowed up by the much larger WNW swell.

Next Long-range forecast will be posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Adam Wright
Surf Forecaster
http://www.socalsurf.com/

Surf for Friday – New WNW swell starts to peak

Friday will be a surf day…lots of waves to help snap us out of the post-turkey coma.

The new swell is right on time…already hitting the outer buoys and starting to filter through the nearshore islands. Check out the “Nowcast” from the CDIP…this is the one that is built off of actual data…not just the forecast model…you can really see the new energy piling up in the outer waters. It is also a great example to see how a steeper more Northerly swell angle gets heavily shadowed by Point Conception and all of those pesky islands.



This is the energy showing on the Harvest Buoy…lots of long-period energy…and a slightly better WNW angle (280-300 rather than 290-300 that we had hit on Tues/Wed). It is showing nearly 11-feet of energy at the 16-18 second period range!



And here is the forecast for Friday morning…as you can see a lot more energy making it into our spots.



So for Friday…we will have a new WNW swell (280-300) peaking throughout the day (eventually holding into Saturday). This one will have some decent size and consistency at the exposed spots and even the average WNW facing breaks will get plenty of waves.

Wave heights at the average WNW-NW facing breaks in Santa Barbara, North LA, and most of Orange County, will be in the chest-head high range on Friday. These areas are a little shadowed from the main swell energy so won’t as bit…or as consistent…but the “winter spots” in those regions will definitely have some waves. The S facing breaks naturally will be much smaller.

The better exposed spots in the more consistent winter regions, like Ventura, the South Bay, and San Diego will be in the shoulder-overhead range with some sets going a couple of feet+ overhead at times. Again these would be the “average to better than average” type of spots in these region.

The top NW facing breaks, again in Ventura, the South Bay, and San Diego, will be consistently head high to a couple of feet overhead…with some sets coming in several feet overhead…maybe even bigger as you head down to Southern SD.

Winds look ok for Friday…mostly light and variable to light offshore through the morning...but what looks like some early onshore flow starting to push through Santa Barbara and Ventura through mid-morning. A cold front is expected to arrive through the afternoon/evening…so look for increasing cloud cover and some building onshore winds through the second part of the day.



For tomorrow…like I said lots of waves…even a few good-sized/big waves at the top NW facing breaks. Shapewise the NW exposed points/reefs are going to be the best...most beach breaks are going to get pretty wally and see a lot of current moving around. This swell looks like it would be worth driving for if you are looking to hit something in a different area…the only thing to keep in mind is that nearly EVERYONE has the day off…so you will probably just be driving into a freaking massive crowd anyways.

Here are the tides…stay safe, and I hope you guys get some! Make sure to send me some surf reports (AND PICTURES!)

11/27/2009 Fri
05:14AM LST 4.9 H
12:13PM LST 1.2 L
05:53PM LST 3.5 H
11:17PM LST 1.6 L

Waves for the Weekend - yep, we got some

Saturday and Sunday both look like surf days...though Saturday should be a touch bigger.

SW swell (190-210...now, but it started it of more westerly closer to 220), which filled in Friday, will hold into Saturday before slowly fading out on Sunday. We will also have some minor NW windswell holding in the background. Check out the sideways CDIP forecast model...if you click on the image you can see the small light-blue dots along the coast...(I am not sure why they don’t lock down the model so that it doesn’t group the wave heights in 3-foot bands...if any of you CDIP guys are out there maybe you can answer that for me)...anyway back to the blue dots, those will be the top exposed areas.



On Saturday wave heights will be in the chest-shoulder high range for most of the average SW exposed spots. Standout SW facing breaks, mostly through South OC and Northern SD, will have shoulder-head high waves with a few bigger sets mixing in at times. Don’t expect a ton of consistency from this swell...there will be some longer waits between the bigger sets...but it will be playful when it does show.

Sunday the SW’er will drop slightly. Still plenty of chest-high surf at the average spots but with less consistent shoulder high sets. Standout breaks will dip down to chest-shoulder high with some rare head high waves.

Winds look ok...we will still have some eddy on Saturday but it should slowly clean up on Sunday. Look for variable/southerly flow with some light texture through the morning and some W-WSW winds around 10-14 knots for the afternoons. Slightly slower wind speeds on Sunday.

Check out the NWS forecast models...

Saturday 8am



Sunday 8am



It is pretty much the same story we have had over the last couple of days...the SW’er is fun but a bit inconsistent and, at the exposed beach breaks, a little walled up. I did manage to get out and grab a couple at the local beach break on Friday and there were a few corners on the in-between sets but the bigger waves were pretty section and the south-to-north current was kind of a pain. I expect pretty similar conditions/shape as we head into the weekend. The best waves are going to be at the points/reefs with good exposure to the swell, structures and solid sandbars will be a second option but the rides won’t be as long. Don’t sweat getting a ton of waves this weekend...there is plenty of swell coming through for the next several days.

Here are the tides...have a good one!

Saturday
12:12AM LDT 4.4 H
07:53AM LDT 0.3 L
02:53PM LDT 3.6 H
07:46PM LDT 2.8 L

Sunday
01:01AM LDT 3.9 H
08:31AM LDT 0.7 L
03:35PM LDT 3.8 H
09:19PM LDT 2.6 L

Waves for the Weekend - Lots of waves...plan on surfing

This will be a surf weekend with plenty of waves coming through both on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday we will see a mix of new SSW swell, some slowly building tropical SE swell, and it looks like a touch more local WNW windswell. Wave heights are going to be pretty similar to Friday...so lots of the average spots will be around chest-shoulder high. The standout S facing breaks, mostly through North Orange County, will be in the shoulder-head high range with some bigger overhead sets sneaking through on the tide push.

Sunday the mix of swells will continue to push through similar sizes...but the SE tropical swell should actually start to strengthen by the afternoon (and hold into Monday). This swell will be aimed pretty SE at first but it does gradually turn more southward on Monday which will help a few more spots start to work.

Winds look good for the next couple of mornings...but sort of breezy by the afternoons. Plan on light and variable winds...with a little southerly texture at the more exposed breaks...early in the mornings. Afternoons will see W winds around 10-12+ knots with some areas seeing some 15-knot+ gusts.

There won't really be much of a change in the "best bets" this weekend...if you scored some surf over the last couple of days then I would check those same spots on both Saturday and Sunday. I would look for North OC (meaning surf areas North of Laguna Beach) will be the biggest this weekend...due mostly to its exposure to the tropical hurricane swells. I don't really think it will be worth driving around a ton though...there will be enough waves in the other regions (except maybe Santa Barbara and the deep South Bay area) to have some fun. Here I made a handy map as a reference guide to what I am talking about. See the subtle notes in red.



Remember that North OC will be teaming with a retarded amount of surfing talent this weekend as well thanks to the US Open of Surfing...and all of the pros, pro-wannabes, has-beens, sponsor reps, and Red Bull Girls that come with it. If you are into the contest scene or just like to watch freaky people...then I would recommend checking out the contest finals on Sunday.

Oh and as I proved earlier this week...stay on the lookout for overly amorous dolphins!

Friday's Surf - A little dolphin Love

Friday will be another surf day...it won't be as big at the S facing spots as it has been over the last couple of days but I think it will be a bit more playful.

We are going to see a mix of fading S-SE tropical swell, slowly dropping SW energy, and building local NW windswell.

The average spots with some exposure to the swell mix will have waist-chest high surf with some shoulder high sets on the morning tide push.

Standout S facing spots, and the good combo breaks, will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high sets mixing in at times...I think the tide push will be particularly fun before too much water gets on top of things.

Winds will be very similar to the last couple of days with light/variable and clean conditions early. Afternoon winds build onshore around the 10-12+ knot range with some gusts around 15 knots at the more exposed breaks.

S-facing breaks will again be the best bet on Friday...but I think that thanks to the increasing windswell we are going to see a few more corners start to creep into the beach breaks...so while shape will still be best at the points/reefs, the beach breaks should improve and help to bleed off some of the crowd. I would plan on hitting it in the morning for the cleanest shape...but you may see better surfing around midmorning as the tide starts to shift around.

On another random session note...I seem to be having some issues with surfing this week. First off I get sick of going left all the freaking time during the summer...so I sit around doing voodoo dances trying to get some windswell to break it up, which so far has been failing miserably during this last set of swells. Second I try and roast myself by wearing a retarded amount of rubber into near 70 degree water. Now today to add insult to injury, during the lunch session, I basically get molested by a family of dolphins. I have to say that nothing makes you feel lamer than to get humped by dolphins. (really though I didn't actually get humped but I could totally tell that one wanted to...the freak.). I may just shoot photos tomorrow.

What part of "no" don't you understand Flipper! (I think this is the one that almost got me)

Random Wednesday Morning Surf Report – Looking fun out there

I was just rolling through the cameras and getting my plethora of text messages this morning and it sounds (and looks) like there is still plenty of surf showing out there.

Sets are a little less consistent as the tide drops through midmorning but the top SW facing spots in San Diego and Orange County are still seeing overhead sets. The average exposed breaks through LA and Ventura are seeing slightly smaller shoulder-head high waves.

Conditions are mostly clean with some light S winds at some of the exposed beaches. Shape is definitely better at points and reefs and a couple of the really good dense sandbars. In general the beach breaks are still a little walled out with some strong south-to-north current, and some good size rip currents…so if you surf a beach break this morning plan on having a loooong hike back to your car.

Lastly here is another shot of the CDIP wave model…it isn’t as accurate this morning…it looks like it is missing data from the new SW energy that is reinforcing the existing swell (and they adjusted the wave heights so that the “range” between each color change is larger than normal…pretty much the stupidest thing I have ever heard of).