Surf For Thursday – Cleaner but still a chance for some bump

Thursday will be a lot cleaner than Wednesday but I still don’t think it is going to be a good surf day.

Local winds are forecast to back down tonight...with super cold air-temps settling over some areas (the NWS is calling for frost and freezing temps in some of the inland valleys). As usual the colder nighttime temps have a tendency to switch around the wind...or at least knock it down a bit...and we can expect lighter winds for the morning. I don’t think it will be 100% clean...there is still a chance at some light onshore flow and leftover lump but it shouldn’t be totally blown out either. Hopefully we will get lucky and the cold air will switch the winds to the N a bit more.

You can watch the winds go by on the Satellite



It is a little hard to see on the photo so here is the animation - http://sat.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/satloop.php?wfo=lox&type=vis&size=1

Swellwise we are going to see a mix of good sized but fading W-WNW windswell lumping over fading S swell (180-190) and some background WNW/SW pulses. Most spots will see surf in the chest-shoulder high range for tomorrow morning...the top W facing spots, that really like the windswell, will have some shoulder-head high faces...it wouldn’t surprise me to see some head high+ sets through Southern San Diego.

Like I said...the winds don’t look great tomorrow. It will be cleanest around the dawn patrol, with light/variable to like W-NW flow. Generally it will stay below 10-knots for the AM...but by the afternoon it turns onshore and builds into the 10-15+ knot range at the more exposed areas.

Personally I still wouldn’t commit a lot of time to the surf tomorrow...there will be waves but the leftover lump will probably keep most spots fairly fugly. The water temps are going to nose-dive too thanks to upwelling...I would probably plan on bringing some booties if you aren’t down with the cold. I am probably going to be doing a cam-check from my toasty computer in the morning...just on the chance that winds switch around enough to make it worth it...but overall I am not expecting a lot.

Here are the tides...

01:17AM LDT 4.0 H
10:12AM LDT 0.6 L
06:45PM LDT 3.1 H
09:06PM LDT 3.0 L

Surf on Thursday – we get to do more surfing

Thursday will be another surf day.

On Thursday we have more of that fun WNW swell (285-300) that has already been doing a pretty nice job of sending in waves. It will mix with some other background WNW energy, local windswell, and some minor S-SW swell.

Average WNW exposed spots will see surf in the waist-chest high+ range with some bigger sets mixing in at times. Standout winter spots, mostly in SD and Ventura, will have surf in the shoulder-head high range with some overhead sets at the top breaks. Shape will be a bit soft through the morning thanks to the high tide but it has been getting pretty fun as the tide drops out through midmorning/lunchtime.

Winds look good again as well...mostly light offshore to light and variable through the morning and NW winds around 10-12 knots for the afternoon. It may get a little chunky around lunch but it should be pretty clean through most of the morning.

If you can I would probably skip the dawn patrol because of the building tide...and surf closer to lunchtime. If you have to surf early, and most of us do, then try and pick a spot that can handle the higher tide. There are going to be plenty of waves at exposed spots tomorrow but if you need bigger surf you are going to want to hit up those top winter regions/spots. The water is still freaking cold so bring your booties.


"Man HB is crowded this morning!"

Here are the tides

05:59AM LST 6.3 H
01:40PM LST -1.2 L
08:08PM LST 3.6 H