Waves for the weekend – A little too much wind.

We are going to have some surf this weekend, and we are going to have some wind, and most of the time we are going to have both at the same time…which if you pardon the pun…sort of blows.

There will be plenty of swell in the water. We have a mix of new SSW-SW swell (195-220) that is filling in here on Friday/Saturday and will peak Saturday night into Sunday. There will also be plenty of WNW-NW windswell coming in along with the increasing local winds.

Wave heights will be in the waist-chest high range for most areas with SW and WNW exposure. Standout SW facing spots, mostly through San Diego and Southern Orange County, will have sets hitting the shoulder-high+ range on Saturday and head high+ on Sunday.

Southern Ventura County, Northern LA, and the South Bay will see a decent mix of the SW’er but will be a bit smaller overall, expect in areas where it is combing up with the local windswell.

Santa Barbara and North Orange County (mostly from HB northward), will see some solid shadowing from the nearshore islands, which will limit wave heights in those areas. Look for surf more in the knee-waist high range on average with a few bigger sets sneaking through at times.

Unfortunately winds will be the biggest problem that we have this weekend. Strong NW winds are forecast to develop over the next 24 hours and hold strong through the weekend.

On Saturday look for a semi-clean window during the dawn-patrol…winds should start off light and variable onshore and hold through mid-morning. W winds build in fast, tapping out at 10-20 knots by the afternoon.

Sunday forecasts are showing an eddy spin up…but its position and intensity are a bit suspect. I would expect S-SW winds for most of OC and SD in the morning…and more variable onshore bump for Santa Barbara down through LA. Overall shape won’t be that great even if the winds are light…mostly due to the strong leftover bump from Saturday’s winds. Afternoon winds look just as strong as Saturday’s 10-20 knots.

Your best bet for surf will be to try and find a spot with the perfect blend of protection from the wind and exposure to the swell mix. SW-facing points will probably be the best call, particularly the inside sections which may offer some protection from the winds. Also try and get on it early…it may not matter how protected a spot is once the winds start hitting 20 knots.

Also I wanted to give you guys a big thanks for the feedback on the charts…I am going to see if I can come up with something a bit cooler that will fit in more with my other nonsense that I throw up on this bloggy.

Waves for the weekend – Some Surf, Some Wind, Some June Gloom

There will be surf this weekend…but it is going to have a number of issues with the winds and the tide that it is going to have to work through. That being said if you make good spot choices (and don’t try and surf during the high tide) you should be able to find a few playful waves in all of our regions.

In the water we are going to have a mix of holding SW swell (195-210), some new local windswell, and a steep NW swell (290+). Basically a smorgasbord of swell. None of it is particularly powerful or worth driving for but if you have a spot that can pick up one of more of those swells then you should be in OK shape.

On Saturday morning the average spots are going to see waist-chest high surf…with a couple of bigger ones at the best high tide spots in Orange County and San Diego. Winds will be light/variable for LA and Santa Barbara…while OC and SD see some S winds around 5-8 knots in the morning.

Winds will increase out of the WNW 10-20 knots by the afternoon…so it will end up being a race between the dropping tide and the increasing wind. If we can get a little pocket between the two that will probably be your best bet for surf…the SD/OC standouts will have a few shoulder high+ sets showing as the tide drops as well.

Sunday will be a bit cleaner…with lighter winds in the morning. The S swell will be a little smaller, the NW swell will be a bit bigger, and windswell will come up a couple of notches as well…but in general the sizes will be about the same.

The best surf on Sunday will probably be during the dawn patrol…the high tide is a little later in the day so we should have better shape early and the winds will be lighter in the AM as well. Personally I will probably try and roll out of bed around sun-up and give the local beach breaks a check before the tide gets too high.

When you pick your spots this weekend definitely plan around the tide and the winds…and realize that you may have to sacrifice size for shape in a lot of cases.

Waves for the Weekend: Good WNW swell

The WNW swell (285-300) for the weekend is still looking pretty good. We can expect a pretty decent run of waves at the winter spots through both Saturday and Sunday.

We should actually start to see this swell hit our outer nearshore buoys later today and it will fill in along our beaches by tomorrow morning, peaking in the afternoon on Saturday. Expect the swell to hold overnight into Sunday morning before it starts to lose a little steam by Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday and Sunday most WNW facing spots see chest-head high+ surf. Standout breaks in San Diego, Ventura, and the South Bay, will have sets going overhead to a few feet overhead at times.

FYI: Santa Barbara will be a little left out thanks to shadowing from Point Conception. Expect the breaks in the SB area to be smaller, mostly waist-chest high range at the top breaks and smaller as you move further north through the county. It will be clean and fun throughout the county but it will be much smaller than the other areas. Check out the CDIP forecast…see how there is not much energy hitting Santa Barbara.



Weather looks good for the mornings over the weekend as well. Expect mostly light variable winds through the dawn patrols. NW winds build into the 15-20 knot range during the afternoons.

Finding surf this weekend will be pretty easy…just head to the usual winter spots and you will get some sort of waves. If you are looking for bigger surf then San Diego and Northern Baja will probably be the best call…they will have more exposure to the swell and more different types of breaks to choose from. I think the best shape will be at the points and reefs (in all areas), just because there isn’t much to break up this swell. Beach breaks may be a little lined up, and have some current to fight against, but there will be a few corners on the good sandbars there as well.

Hope you score some waves and have a great weekend!

Friday’s Surf – Yeah more storminess!

Sorry gang I wish I had better news…but it looks like Friday is going to be another sloppy day. In fact it looks a little worse than Thursday, which had a couple of semi-clean spots in the morning.

Friday the mix of windswell and WNW/SW energy will continue to rise but shape looks poor thanks to the continued storm S-SW winds. Winds will range around 10-25 knots with some stronger gusts mixing in. There is a chance for San Diego and parts of OC to see some SE winds early in the morning but expect those to turn more onshore by mid-morning.

High tide continues to slam us through mid-morning as well. Personally I may go look at the surf if I am sick of being inside but I won’t be bringing my gear…poor water quality and poor conditions are pretty much a deal breaker for me.

Further Out…Saturday is looking about as bad as Friday, winds will slowly shift more SW-W and blow most of the day. Windswell will be up but shape will continue to be poor. Sunday the winds will back slowly down but the whole region will be unstable and we can expect consistent onshore flow for most of the day.

I won’t be updating tomorrow…my little brother is getting married and I have some serious partying to do!

I will probably shoot out another update on Sunday afternoon…check back then.