Friday's Surf - Great...now we have rain to go with our small waves

Friday is not going to be surf day. Our swell will be mostly smaller leftovers and it looks like there is a chance at some rain as well.

We are going to have a mix of small SW energy...there is actually a new SW'er (195-210+) that is slowly starting to fill in but it doesn't really get going until the afternoon...we will also have some building WNW windswell starting to filter in about the same time.

On average we can expect most spots in the knee-waist high range...maybe a few plus sets starting to show at the really exposed combo spots in San Diego. A few of the top breaks may get to about chest high+ during the afternoon. The tide swing is going to honk us up again...so expect very swampy shape as the tide peaks around midmorning.

Winds and weather are going to be a bit funky as well...there is a cold front moving over the Cali coast over the next couple of days (actually it is two fronts...one tomorrow and one Sunday/Monday)...and it is supposed to bring some increasing wind as well as a bit of rain showers. Right now it looks like most of the showers will hit up around SB and Ventura but they are saying it may spread further south as well.

Check out the winds for tomorrow AM...it looks like increasing southerly winds for the Northern Counties (SB, Ventura) and lighter SE winds further south. A lot will depend on how fast the front moves so make sure to use the surf cams and live wind observations to get a good read on things at your local breaks tomorrow.



Really with the lack of swell and less than stellar conditions I am not expecting much surf. San Diego spots might be OK before the high tide but it is still going to be fairly sketchy from a weather/wind standpoint. Personally I am way more fired up that my oldest son (a 3 year old) is going as Optimus Prime for Halloween.

Have a great holiday tomorrow!

Here are the tides

03:53AM 2.4' Low
10:06AM 5.7' High
05:44PM 0.1' Low

Thursday’s Surf: Looking a bit fugly

Depending on where you live you may want to skip trying to surf on Thursday. Like it says in the title…things are looking a bit fugly.

There will be a few waves thanks to the small but steady mix of WNW windswell and weak S-SW pulses that continue to hang on. Most breaks can expect surf in the knee high+ range. Standout W facing windswell spots will have some waist-high+ sets.

The wind is what will be causing most of the problems. N-NW winds are expected to hold pretty steady for most of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles. Expect N-NW winds around 10+ knots, (sort of side-onshore for the west facing breaks…but cleaner at S facing spots and the inside areas of certain points).

Orange County and San Diego are expected to be cleaner with the winds shifting more N to NNE on the forecast charts...though I am not sure how much I trust them considering that it focusing on such a small area. Let’s just say, at this point, look for lighter winds blowing from a better direction in OC and SD and cross our fingers. (you have to love my forecasting style sometimes)

I would suggest playing it by ear tomorrow. The surf will be small and the winds not-so-good, which is never a great combo. That being said there are always a couple of manageable pockets that can be fun if you just want to catch a couple of waves…so your best bet is to check the cameras in the morning and only head down to the beach if you see a couple of decent waves…otherwise don’t waste your gas/sanity/time (whichever you find more valuable).

Tuesday's Forecast Tips

Despite some impressive NW swell wave heights showing on the wave models it looks like SoCal will have fairly small surf for the next couple of days.

The models are showing some significant NW energy but most of it is coming in from a very steep NW angle and will be blocked by Point Conception and, to a lesser degree, the nearshore islands.

I do expect some NW swell to leak through and mix with our small SW swell and weak tropical SE swell so there will be some waves...just nothing to get super excited about.

Personally I will probably check the cams on Wednesday morning, particularly the breaks that can pick up a mix of SW and NW swell. With the cool morning temps and mostly small surf I am probably going to find it hard to motivate.