Waves for the Weekend – Swells fades Saturday, fills in a touch on Sunday, and then bigger by Monday

All three weekend days will be surfable…but it looks like Sunday and Monday will be a bit cleaner (Sunday) and have more size (Monday) thanks to another round of S-SW swell pushing out of the Southern Hemisphere.

Saturday will start off with a bit of leftover fading S-SW swell and some slowly backing down NW windswell.



The average S facing spots and good combo breaks will be in the waist-high range with some rare bigger sets showing at times. The standout S facing breaks and excellent combo spots will be in the waist-chest high range with a few shoulder high sets as the morning tide pushes up.

Look for light winds through Saturday morning…a little onshore flow for Santa Barbara/Ventura…but lighter more variable winds for the LA on down through Orange County, and possibly a touch of Southerly texture in parts of San Diego.





Sunday will start off with mostly leftovers in the morning…backing off S-SW swell and some slowly increasing background NW windswell.



Most spots will be in the knee-waist high range with some waist high+ sets showing on the tide push. The top S facing breaks and the best combo spots will be more in the waist-chest high range with a few rare chest-shoulder high sets showing on that morning tide push.

By the afternoon a new long-period SSW-SW swell (190-210) will start to arrive…the initial energy isn’t very strong so I am not expecting a bunch of bigger waves arriving before sundown, but this new swell should help to get our surf a bit more consistent as it starts to fill in.

Winds look much better on Sunday…light and variable to light offshore for the morning for almost all areas. Look for these winds to hold on the light side up until midday and then turn around and build out of the W-NW around 10-14 knots for the afternoon.





Monday the new SSW-SW swell (190-210) will start to peak and will hold through the day. NW windswell will also be coming up a little bit…along with a touch of medium period NW energy from a storm that moves through the Gulf of Alaska this weekend.



Most spots will start to pulse up a bit…building into the waist-chest high range if they have some decent exposure to the SSW-SW swell…or can combo in the windswell. The standout SSW-SW facing spots, mostly through South OC and a few select areas in San Diego, will have chest-shoulder high surf with a few head high sets mixing in by the end of the day.

Winds, at this point, look ok for Monday…sort of variable to offshore and below 5 knots for the morning…but possibly a little funky NW flow spinning up around Santa Barbara. Looks like winds will stay light but add a touch of texture as the onshore flow builds in around midday. Stronger WSW-W-WNW winds (depending on where you are) will fill in around 10-15 knots for the afternoon.





Overall this weekend won’t be anything “spectacular” but it does look decent enough to go out and ride a few. To top it off the weather is going to finally break…warming way up compared to the last couple of days…hitting mid-upper 70s at the beaches (maybe warmer) and 90s inland.


I’m burning!

With that being said keep in mind that it is a holiday weekend and with the Inland Empire becoming a blast furnace everyone and their cousin/grandma/dog/cat/cactus/meth-lab (just kidding) is going to come to the beach. I am sure that it will be pretty crowded, blackball will go up pretty fast, and parking will probably be a nightmare.

Looking at it from that angle I think your best bet is going to be hitting the beach as early as possible…trying to take advantage of the the cleaner conditions and low tides. Expect the largest surf hitting the most exposed spots in Orange County and San Diego, with some scattered breaks doing ok in the other counties. Santa Barbara is going to stay on the small side…and North LA will also be a bit weaker thanks to interference from the nearshore islands and seamounts, so plan on weaker and less consistent surf for those areas.

Have a great weekend and a good Holiday. (A huge thank-you to all of the men and women in the Armed Services, past and present…stay safe and come home soon!)

Here are the tides…

05/29/2010 Saturday
05:17AM LDT -1.0 L
11:47AM LDT 3.6 H
04:17PM LDT 2.2 L
10:23PM LDT 5.7 H

05/30/2010 Sunday
05:58AM LDT -0.8 L
12:34PM LDT 3.5 H
04:58PM LDT 2.4 L
11:01PM LDT 5.4 H

05/31/2010 Monday (Memorial Day)
06:40AM LDT -0.4 L
01:24PM LDT 3.4 H
05:43PM LDT 2.6 L
11:40PM LDT 4.9 H

Surf for Thursday – Slow start, but new SSW’er starts filling in

Thursday will be a surf day...but don’t expect big waves early in the morning.

Swellwise we can expect a mix of leftover SW swells and local NW-WNW windswell in the morning. There will be some long-period energy from the new Southern Hemi swell showing in the background but the forerunners won’t add a ton of size to the dawn patrol. In fact tomorrow morning will look a lot like this...



The SSW swell (180-200) will build and fill in throughout the day and will have some overhead sets showing at top S-facing spots by sundown.

Wave heights for the morning will average around waist-chest high. The standout S facing spots will have some shoulder high sets, particularly as the morning low tide starts to fill in and new energy builds in through the background.

By the afternoon/evening we can expect waist-shoulder high+ for most S exposed spots. Standout S facing breaks, like those in Orange County, North LA, and Northern San Diego, will be consistently in the shoulder-head high range with overhead sets mixing in at times.



As you can see the winds look pretty good through the morning, mostly light and variable, with a few really clean areas (like the South Bay, North LA, and Southern Ventura). San Diego and OC may have a little southerly flow...but I am expecting mostly clean conditions in those areas as well. Look for moderate WNW winds around 10-14 knots by the afternoon, but with semi-surfable shape in areas with high cliffs, structures, or kelp (something to knock down the wind.)

I think that tomorrow morning is going to start off a bit slow, even drained out and small in a few of the more protected areas. I would probably try and get a later start to your surf, let the tide come up, and the SSW swell to start building. I think that all types of spots, beach breaks, points, reefs, will all be about the same in the morning...but as the swell and the tide push in...the points and reefs will be the call (as they will likely be throughout the SSW swell as it peaks).

It is summer, so expect crowds, particularly since this swell has been in the forecast for a while now and is getting pretty hyped up. I saw an article in the LA Times today, which is never a good sign for the crowds. Cross your fingers that you might be able to find a few uncrowded corners out there over the next couple of days.

Here are the tides for Thursday...

05:04AM LDT -1.3 L
11:21AM LDT 4.6 H
04:44PM LDT 1.3 L
10:41PM LDT 6.3 H

Weekend Wave's: Fun in the sun

While the surf won't be stellar this weekend it does look like we can have some fun...particularly since the weather is supposed to be extra nice along the coast. (which means that people in the Inland Empire will be spontaneously bursting into flames when they walk outside).

Surfwise we are going to see a slight increase in wave heights as a mix of small WNW energy and slowly building S-SW swell move in and help out the surf.

On average most spots will hold around the knee-waist high range for both days...but a few of the standout combo spots, mostly in San Diego, will have some inconsistent chest high sets. These waves will actually get a little more consistent with just a touch more size as the swell mix strengthens into Sunday.

Winds look clean for both mornings...mostly light offshore to light and variable. Afternoon winds come in out of the W around 10-15 knots.

Like I said the surf won't be super exciting this weekend but it will have a few playful waves at the better breaks. Personally I think it will be an excellent weekend for beginner surfers...the surf will be mellow and still uncrowded enough that they can get a few waves without getting in each others way. Being a bigger guy I will probably stick to the longboard this weekend but if, on Sunday, I see a few more chest high sets sneaking through I might try to get a little session with my fish...I will probably pack both in the truck. Besides with weather in the upper-70s to low-80's along the beach it will be worth spending some time at the coast.