Thursday’s Surf – Playful morning…breezy by lunch

Thursday will have a surf window in the morning, but winds are going to spin up fast…so watch for conditions to fall apart around 10-11am.

In the water we will have a mix of small SSW swell (190-210) and some building background NW windswell. The SSW swell will lose energy slowly through the afternoon, while the NW windswell starts to creep up.



Most spots, with decent exposure to either the W or the SSW, will be in the waist high range with a few inconsistent chest high sets. The standout SSW facing breaks will have a few chest-shoulder high sets showing on the lower tides…while the standout NW facing spots will be a bit more consistently around shoulder high by the afternoon (but with fairly sloppy windswell shape hampered by onshore winds).

Winds will be ok in the morning…mostly areas will be light and variable with a couple of pockets of onshore texture here and there, but generally below 5 knots for the breaks in LA on down through San Diego. W winds get an early jump on things up in Santa Barbara and Ventura…so look for westerly flow to increase through mid-morning with stronger WNW-NW flow hitting 20+ knots around midday. The rest of Socal will see 10-18 knot W-NW winds by the late afternoon.



While it won’t be a great surf day on Thursday it will at least be rideable and sort of playful for a few areas. You are going to want to surf early in the day…basically the dawn patrol or shortly afterward…just so you can take advantage of the lighter winds. Any later in the day and you are risking have the surf blow out pretty fast. I think the better combo beach breaks are going to be the best call on Thursday, they will make the best of the smaller, but crossed up, swell mix. You might think about brining a smaller wave board, or some sort of fish, basically something that will work good in the weaker surf.

Here are the tides…

05/20/2010 Thursday
02:11AM LDT 4.4 H
09:39AM LDT 0.0 L
04:36PM LDT 4.1 H
10:20PM LDT 2.1 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

Tuesday’s Surf – Surfing anyone?

Tuesday is looking like a surf day.

We are going to have a mix of S-SW swells (180-210) and some increasing WNW windswell. Both the southern hemi swells and the local windswell will be punchy enough that if you only have a spot open to one of the directions there should still be enough energy to catch a few waves on the lower tides.



Average spots will have waves in the waist-chest high range. The better S facing spots, and ok combo breaks, will be around chest-shoulder high on the sets. Standout S-SW facing spots, and the excellent combo spots (mostly through Orange County and San Diego) will have chest-head high sets.

Winds will be decent as well...mostly light and variable through the morning and WNW around 10-12 knots for the afternoon.



I managed to get a session in on Monday (now that some of the holiday weekend chaos subsided)...the local beach break had a lot of chest high sets and even a few dumpy combo peaks rolling through as the tide filled in.

Tuesday is going to be pretty similar...I think that your best bet is going to be at the combo swell beach breaks, particularly spots that can handle a little more tide (it will make your session last a bit longer). If you can I would try and hit it early, right after the tide bottoms out. Points and reefs will be a good backup as well...though they might be a little broken up if they have a little too much WNW exposure. Plan on bringing your wetsuit...the water is still pretty chilly most spots.

Here are the tides...

04:35AM LDT -0.6 L
11:01AM LDT 3.6 H
03:33PM LDT 2.3 L
09:37PM LDT 5.8 H

Surf for Tuesday – Playful swell mix

Tuesday is looking like another surf day.

Overall it won’t be spectacular or anything...and you are going to need to have some exposure to the S-SSW swell mix (*cough* Santa Barbara *cough*)...but there will a few fun waves at the better summer spots and winds should be relatively light for most of the morning as well.



Our swell will be a mix of overlapping S-SW swells (180-210) and some background NW windswell.

Most spots will be in the knee-waist high range with some waist high+ sets on the lower tides. The standout S-SW facing spots, mostly through Orange County, North LA, and North San Diego, will have waist-chest high surf with some less consistent shoulder high sets.

Winds will be light and variable through the morning before turning NW around 10-14 knots for the afternoon. Our weather may be a bit funky though...the forecast charts are calling for more of that unstable funkiness we had last week...so there is a chance for scattered thunderstorms (mostly up around the mountains and the desert.)

I managed to grab a quick session a little before lunch on Monday and the windswell had definitely come up a notch compared to the weekend...so shape is a little more broken up and I expect that to continue into tomorrow. Points and reefs will still likely be the best call...but the beach breaks will be a solid second choice...particularly spots that have some good sand and can handle a little higher tide as it fills in through midmorning. Oh and the water is freezing...felt like upper 50’s in North OC...bring your fullsuit.

Here are the tides...

05:26AM LDT -0.6 L
12:01PM LDT 3.4 H
04:14PM LDT 2.5 L
10:22PM LDT 5.5 H

Wednesday's Surf - And the winner is...

Yeah Right :) (this is the last place you should be getting your election coverage.)

Wednesday is going to be a surf day...conditions will be cleaner and there will be a fun swell mix in the water...about the only thing that is still an issue is the water quality. The water was looking an awful poo brown today (not the most scientific method)...and it usually takes 2-3 days for the bacteria to back off. You can always check out the Heal The Bay website for some of the beach grades. www.healthebay.org

Surfwise we are going to have a mix of slowly fading steeper WNW windswell (285-300) and some playful sized SSW swell (190-205) that is holding under the more dominant WNW energy. Here is the CDIP for this afternoon...expect a little less WNW energy and a little more SSW tomorrow.



Wave heights for most areas will be in the waist-chest high range...Santa Barbara will be a touch smaller as the WNW energy gradually turns more NW. The better combo spots will be in the waist-shoulder high range.

Standout W-facing beaches and top combo spots in San Diego will have some shoulder-head high faces...probably even some bigger sets at the best breaks in the morning.

Winds are looking better for Wednesday...mostly light and variable to light/moderate offshore near passes and canyons in the northern counties. Check out the NWS map for Wednesday morning.



Afternoon winds pick up out of the NW around 10-12 knots.

While I am still not all that stoked on the water quality I think that there will be some fun waves tomorrow. I might wrap myself in some sort of saran-wrap and a bondage mask and see if I can catch a few...but I am still going to avoid the storm-drains and river-mouths if I can. If you are looking for bigger waves Ventura, The South Bay will be decent calls...San Diego is going to be by far the biggest surfwise since it is more exposed to the WNW-NW energy. It probably won't be worth driving down there but if you are in the area I would at least plan a camera check in the morning.

Here are the tides (LST stands for Local Standard Time in case you were wondering)

04:52AM LST 3.6' High
08:16AM LST 3.5' Low
01:22PM LST 4.0' High
09:37PM LST 0.8' Low

Wednesday's Waves - Combo swell surfing on Hump Day

Wednesday is looking like a surf day...but we will have to work around the 6'+ high tide that buries us around 9:30am.

We are going to have a mix of new SSW swell (190-200) and WNW swell (290-300) as well as a touch of local NW windswell. Here is a shot of the swell mix starting to fill in this afternoon on the CDIP model...(try and ignore the swell periods and directions sometimes the model does screwy things when it averages swells together).



Surfwise the average exposed breaks will be in the waist-chest high range on the lower tides. Ventura and the LA South Bay will be a bit more in the chest high+ range thanks to better exposure to the WNW swell. (Santa Barbara is looking smaller than most areas due to the steep angle of the WNW swell and the blockage by the channel islands).

Standout combo surf spots, mostly in San Diego, will have surf in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high sets mixing in on the better tides as well. Orange County will be similar in size but mostly off the SSW swell rather than the WNW/SW combo that San Diego sees so try and pick your spots accordingly.

Weather and winds are looking pretty decent tomorrow...the Santa Ana flow is expected to back down (maybe give the fire teams a break thankfully) but we will still see some light offshore to light and variable winds through the morning. Onshore bump starts to pick up around midday and will eventually top out around 10-15 knots out of the W-NW during the afternoon.

Since we will be seeing a combo swell tomorrow that has some democratic swell angles almost all areas will be able to pick up some waves from either of the SSW/WNW swell directions. I think the tide is going to be a bit of deal-breaker in the morning though which sucks...there may be a few spots that can power through the 6' high tide but I would even plan on those spots being pretty soft. I wish the tide was a little further back in the morning (or we had an earlier sunrise) but I can wish to win the lotto too but it doesn't mean that it is going to happen. Oh well, cross your fingers that we can get past the high tide peak before the wind starts to get too bad.

Tides for Wednesday

03:22AM 1.2' Low
09:27AM 6.3' High (brutal!)
04:26PM -0.6' Low
10:33PM 4.3' High

Waves for the Weekend - A little stormy but with plenty of swell

We are going to have a bunch of waves this weekend but the weather and winds don't look like they are going to cooperate enough to make it very fun.

On Saturday we are going to see a mix of SSW swells, local windswell, WNW energy, and some increasing tropical S-swell energy in the afternoon.

Wave heights are going to hold in the chest-shoulder high range at most of the decent breaks (both WNW and S facing). Top spots, particularly the S-facing standouts, good winter spots, and excellent combo spots will have shoulder-head high surf with some overhead sets mixing in.

Unfortunately winds/weather will be the issue on Saturday. There is a new storm front that is forecast to move through SoCal bringing some increasing S-SW winds and rain through the morning...and then more rain and SW-W winds around 20+ knots by the afternoon. Check out the COAMPS model.



Here is the weather model for the morning as well...looks like most of the rain will be up in LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara areas.



Now there may be a surf-pocket in the morning...particularly for the spots that are further south (OC and SD). A lot depends on the front and when it actually arrives. If it stalls out we may see cleaner conditions. Personally I think it is a good idea to give the cams a quick check in the morning and see if the winds and rain have head off. Here is a shot of where the front is as of this afternoon.



On Sunday we are going to see more swell as the SSW'ers hold, the windswell increases with the storm, and more WNW swell and tropical S swell build into the mix. Wave heights will be similar to Saturday but with a bit more size. Average spots will be in the shoulder-head high+ range while the standouts see overhead+ sets.

Shape isn’t looking great...usually we get strong NW winds that push in behind a front and they have a tendency to really slop things up. There may be a couple of protected spots but in general I am expecting mostly poor shape and crappy water quality if we get any sort of significant rainfall. Here is a shot of Sunday's winds...again they look on the lighter side in the morning but the onshore flow builds in really fast as we head to midmorning.



Here are the tides for the weekend...cross your fingers that the winds stay lighter than the forecasts...and have a good one!

Saturday

01:19AM 3.1' High
04:59AM 2.7' Low
11:40AM 4.9' High
07:58PM 1.1' Low

Sunday

12:21PM 4.6' High
09:30PM 1.2' Low

Thursday's Surf - Looking fun

Thursday is looking like a surf day. (even Wednesday ended up being more of a surf day than I anticipated and it looks like it should be at least bigger, if not better tomorrow).

We are going to see a mix of overlapping S-SW swells (190-205), local windswell, and some new WNW energy (290-300) from the NPAC.

Average spots throughout SoCal will be in the waist high range with some chest high sets on the lower tides.

Better S-SW facing spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range on sets.

Standout S-SW facing breaks as well the top combo swell spots, mostly in Orange County and San Diego, will have surf in the chest-head high range.

Conditions look pretty good...mostly light and variable with some pockets of light offshore flow in some of the areas with passes or canyons. Check out the wind-model for tomorrow morning.




I am going to get up and go surfing tomorrow morning. I don't expect it to be "great" but I do think it will be fun...and my new quad really needs to have some fun-size clean conditions to get broken in. I think the morning will be the best call...the winds are light, the tides have finally evened out a bit, and the swell mix will be in the water. I don't think it will be worth driving a ton to get waves, just not enough size to make spots really click, but if you have to burn a little extra gas to get to the beach Thursday will be decent call...particularly since it looks like weather starts to crap out on us Friday and Saturday.

Here are the tides for Thursday.

04:35AM 1.9' Low
10:45AM 5.5' High
06:02PM 0.5' Low

Surf on Wednesday – F_@k wallstreet I am going surfing

Wednesday is looking like another surf day…we will have a little more swell and I think that the exposed combo beach breaks should be pretty through the morning.

We are going to have a mix of SSW swells on Wednesday…one fading and a new more southerly one filling in…both of which will be mixing with some increasing NW windswell.

Average spots with S exposure will be in the waist-chest high range…with a few shoulder high sets sneaking through on the lower tides.

The top spots, meaning the well exposed S-facing breaks…mostly in OC and SD, will be chest-shoulder high on most of the waves. The bigger sets should be topping out around head high or so.

Winds are expected to be light in the morning…mostly light and variable but we may see some S-SW texture for the SD and OC areas (sort of depends on how much the eddy sets up tonight). Afternoon winds pick up out of the W around 10-15 knots.

I think with the windswell helping to combo up the SSW swell that the beach breaks will be a decent call tomorrow morning, particularly if the winds stay light. The points and reefs will still be fun as well but they may not connect as far as they would on a pure S-SW swell. Midmorning will probably be the most fun…but you are going to want to get on it before the 5.8’ high tide swamps things out around 10:45am.

Here are the tides for Wednesday

04:32AM 1.0' Low
10:37AM 5.8' High
05:22PM 0.3' Low
11:20PM 4.3' High

Surf on Monday – More Tropical S-swell

Monday is looking pretty surfable.

We are going to have a mix of tropical S swell from Hurricane Hernan, some background SSW energy from the Southern Hemisphere, and some local WNW windswell.

Most exposed breaks will be in the waist-chest high range with some less consistent shoulder high sets.

Standout S facing spots, excellent combo breaks, and spots that traditionally break well on shorter-period S swells will have surf in the chest-shoulder-head high range. The top spots, mostly in North Orange County, will have some overhead faces mixing in at times.

Winds are forecast to be on the light side through the morning but expect some light onshore texture at the open beaches. W winds will build fairly early mid-morning and should top out around 10-14 knots by the afternoon.

Here is a shot of the O-side buoy…that I grabbed on Sunday evening…you can see the tropical S swell showing pretty well. Even though the hurricane reached Cat-3 it doesn’t look like it had a grip of time to establish fetch for this swell, the swell periods showing on the buoy are a good indication of this…the peak of the energy is really between 10-12 second periods…if the storm had been moving slower, or more towards SoCal, we would have likely seen longer periods (probably 14-16 second periods).

It doesn’t really matter a ton except that a shorter swell period means that the energy will wrap and filter through our coastline (and nearshore islands) a little bit different than a longer-period swell will…sometimes this can really help shape, and sometimes it makes it even crappier…a lot depends on the break and the rest of the swell mix. I think that tomorrow it may make it worth hunting around some different S facing spots...it won't be all time or anything but it may be a bit better than you would expect. Still if you are short on time or gas-money I would probably stick with the classics and try and watch the tide swing as well…mushy semi-windswelly S swell doesn’t really get better on a higher tide.

Waves for Wednesday – Still a few fun ones

Wednesday will be a surf day…nothing super exciting but still rideable and playful at the exposed spots.

We are going to have a mix of SSW swell (190-200) and some local WNW windswell…there won’t be a ton of windswell so look for sort of lined up S lines at most breaks with a few more makeable corners at the combo spots.

On average most spots will be in the knee-waist high range with some inconsistent chest high sets.
Standout S facing spots and the good combo surf breaks, within the Orange County and San Diego areas, will be in the waist-chest high range fairly consistently with some shoulder high+ sets sneaking through on the lower tides.

Winds are expected to be light again in the morning with only minor onshore texture at the more open beaches. Look for the usual W winds around 10-12 knots by the afternoon.

Like I said I think tomorrow will be a surf day with some inconsistent but fun waves showing at most of the “summer” spots. OC and SD will be the biggest and most consistent but again I don’t think it will warrant driving very far to surf either area unless you just have cash and gas to burn. I think the morning will still have the best shape but try and work around the low tide…or find a spot that likes a little less water.

Tuesday's Surf - Holding Pattern

Tuesday will be another borderline surf day...it will be rideable but will suffer under the tide swing and inconsistency of the SSW swell.

In the water we will have a mix of SSW swell (190-210) and some local WNW windswell. The SSW'er will actually have a little more energy than Monday as well as a slightly more southerly direction than it originally started at...so I expect a few more sets showing in more areas than it did on Monday.

On average the S exposed spots will be in the knee-waist high+ range with a few rare chest high sets sneaking through on the morning tide push.

Standout S facing surf breaks and the good combo spots, mostly through Orange County and the San Diego summer surf spots, will see waves in the waist-chest high range with some inconsistent shoulder high sets slipping through at times.

Personally, with the low tide hitting right around 6:30-7am I would try and get to the beach around that time...it may be a little drained out to start but the building tide should help the swell consistency and size for the first hour or so. I think that the combo beach breaks will be the most fun shapewise...but the points and reefs should be playful as well (as long as you don't mind the ankle-breaker water depths). Look for the biggest size in the OC and SD areas...but don't drive very far to surf there if you can help it...I don't think the swell is really worth wasting a bunch of gas.

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)

Thursday's Surf - I like waves

Thursday will be a surf day.

I actually got a few waves during lunch on Wednesday...surfed Northside HB around the Taco Bell reef...and there was some legit size coming in from the mix of SE Fausto swell and the new SSW'er coming in from the SPAC. It was still pretty walled and yet sort of soft at the same time, even the bigger overhead+ sets were on the gutless side (it was high tide)...and the current really blew but it wasn't any worse that I was expecting. The water was super warm too...and me being the genius that I am I left my trunks at home and brought my fullsuit. Yes this is the same suit that I surf in all winter. I basically got to be big-sweaty-gringo and tried to give myself heatstroke in near 68-70 degree water while floating down the beach pulling into close-out left after close-out left. Not the most fun...but it beats sitting at a desk. Next time I will just wear this it should be cooler.



Anyway...enough about my brilliance back to the forecast...Thursday will be plenty surfable with a lot of waves still coming through. We will have a mix of fading Fausto swell, SSW energy from the Southern Hemi, and some slowly increasing local windswell. At this point it looks like the Fausto swell will hang on...it will be past its peak but there should still be some size in the morning on the tide push. Expect it to bleed out as we head through the afternoon.

Most S exposed breaks will continue to see chest-shoulder high surf...a few of the better SW facing standouts (not exposed to the SE swell) will have some head high sets mixing in on the lower tides.

Top S facing spots, again mostly in North Orange County, will have more consistent shoulder-head high sets...and even a few overhead waves in the morning.

Winds look ok...mostly light and variable through the morning and then moderate W around 10-12+15 knots by the afternoon.

The best bets are pretty similar to Wednesday's spots...if you found fun surf on Wednesday you should go back on Thursday. Stick with the better exposed S facing breaks...particularly ones that like to focus the shorter-period tropical swell. Points and reefs will have the best shape (and the most crowds)...but you can still have some fun at the beach breaks if they a good solid sandbar...or some jetties, or a pier, or some sort of random shipwreck or something.