Waves for the weekend – windswell you are our only hope

It is not going to be a surf weekend...lack o swell will be the name of the game.

There will be a few weak waves scattered around, and any water time is better than sweating, but overall it is going to be pretty small. We are going to have a mix of weak leftovers both from the NW and SW as well as some local WNW-NW windswell that will slowly increase through Saturday night into Sunday. Unfortunately, as with most local windswells, the local conditions aren’t going to be all that great since the winds setting up the new energy come in right behind and junk it up.

Here is a current CDIP shot of what we got going on this Friday.



And this is what will be slowly crawling in this weekend.



On Saturday we are going to see more small surf in the morning...mostly knee high and below for the average spots. Top NW facing breaks, and the good combo spots, will be around waist high on the sets. There will be a little more size in the afternoon as the winds push in more windswell but shape and quality of the size-increase will be pretty shaky.

Sunday we might have a slightly more surfable morning as the windswell holds from the night before and the onshore winds sort of back down around sunup. I am expecting more knee high surf at the average breaks, but the better NW windswell spots should be more consistently in the waist high range with a few waist to almost-chest-high waves mixing in on the low tides.

Winds don’t look that great...NW flow is expected to increase this weekend (it is where the windswell is coming from)...and while it might cool off our air temps a bit, it will also junk up conditions pretty early each day. Look for variable onshore winds in the morning, mostly around 2-5 knots...then building NW-W winds around 12-15+ knots for the afternoon (with stronger gusts in some of the more exposed areas).

Saturday Morning Winds


Sunday Morning Winds


Like I said...not much going on this weekend...and while I put the NW windswell in the forecast, the fact that I am even talking about it is bad sign for our surf for the next couple of days. Personally I will probably take a longboard down the beach, push my kids into a few weak dribblers and try and take advantage of the warm water while it lasts. I wouldn’t spend any sort of quality time looking at the surf, or burning a lot of $3-a-gallon gas to get to the beach unless you are just going to cool off (and don’t care about the flatness).

Here are the tides...fat lot of good they will do us.

Saturday
04:09AM LDT 0.4 L
10:12AM LDT 5.0 H
04:18PM LDT 1.1 L
10:11PM LDT 5.0 H

Sunday
04:30AM LDT 0.7 L
10:35AM LDT 5.1 H
04:55PM LDT 0.9 L
10:47PM LDT 4.6 H

Thursday’s Leftovers – hmmm smells like week old meatloaf

Much like the last couple of days Thursday won’t be much of a surf day.

We will basically see a small mix of leftover SW swell (200-220) and some local NW windswell. It won’t be totally flat…but as the tide fills in and the wind picks during the afternoon it will feel like it.



Average spots with some SW exposure will be in the knee high range with a rare bigger set mixing in at times. Shape will be soft and if the tide is too high it will be pretty gutless. Top SW facing spots won’t fare much better…they will hold in the knee-waist high range on the sets with some random waist high+ sets sneaking through on the lower tides in the early morning.

Winds look ok…sort of eddyish…but light through the morning. Call it light/variable onshore with a touch more texture in San Diego and OC…cleaner further north. Look for building onshore winds in the 10-14 knot range by the afternoon.



It will be small wave gear again on Thursday...big boards will work the best…but if you are a 70lb grom you might get away with a fishier shape. Winds will be light, the water is warming back up again (HB was calling it 67F today), and it won’t be a total lake…and when you get down to it any sort of surf is better than sitting behind a desk somewhere. Personally I am not going to spend a ton of time trying to find surf…but I still might paddle out to shake off some of the dust before the new swells start to fill in.

Here are the tides…

03:55AM LDT -1.1 L
10:04AM LDT 5.0 H
03:45PM LDT 0.9 L
09:44PM LDT 6.4 H

Surf for Tuesday – Cleaner but still small

Tuesday is looking more surfable but there still isn’t much in the water to surf.

We are going to have a mix of slowly fading WNW energy (a mix of both short-period windswell and some longer-period leftovers) and some slowly increasing SSW swell (190-215).



Most spots will have surf in the knee high range with some inconsistent waist high sets. The standout combo areas and good NW windswell spots (mostly in San Diego) will have some waist-chest high sets...maybe a plus on the lower tides.

Winds look better tomorrow...the eddy will be not as pronounced and it looks like we could have light/variable winds through the morning. I would count on some WNW flow for Santa Barbara and Ventura...but mostly around 5 knots. The other areas will be more variable but don’t rule out a little bump at the more protected areas.

I would probably plan on bringing the small wave boards if you surf tomorrow...personally I am probably going to shine it...just so I can get caught up on some stuff (and blow off the end of the week if swell and conditions come together). I would stick to the combo beach breaks if you can...just because they might have a few more peakier sets sneaking through than the other areas.

Here are the tides...

03:19AM LDT 0.4 L
09:13AM LDT 5.6 H
03:47PM LDT -0.7 L
09:54PM LDT 5.1 H

Monday’s Surf – Case of the Monday’s

Monday will actually be marginally surfable…in fact there will be a touch more swell than we saw over the weekend.

Now before you get all excited…it isn’t going to be a good surf day…in fact it will probably be on the lame side unless you really like the little waves…but like I said it will be better than the weekend with just a little more push as an inconsistent, and small, SW swell arrives and starts to overlap our leftovers.

Most spots will continue to see surf in the knee high range while the standout SW facing surf spots in South Orange County and North San Diego see some bigger waist and even rare chest high sets.

Conditions will be ok…there may be a touch of fugliness to the surf in the morning but overall winds will be light. Expect mostly variable onshore directions early then building W winds around 10+ knots developing through the afternoon.

There really isn’t enough swell to warrant a “best bet”…but I think the beach breaks, with exposure to the swell mix and some really shallow sandbars…will probably be the most fun.

Wednesday’s Surf – Smaller but with a few fun ones still mixing in

Wednesday will be a playful sized surf day.

We will have fading S swell mixing with background WNW energy and local windswell. Most spots will continue to hold around knee-chest high while a few of the best S facing combo spots see some chest high+ sets sneaking through at times.

Winds are looking good in the morning with mostly light and variable to light offshore flow. Afternoon winds pick up out of the W around 10-12 knots.

Man I am lagging on the forecast today…this is about how fast I was moving today for some reason. Don’t blink you might miss it.



Anyhoo…your best bet for tomorrow will be the summer areas, either breaks that excel at focusing the S swell or a really good combo break that can pull in both swells. Orange County will show the best on the mix of swells but I expect it to be fun in San Diego and the exposed breaks in LA as well. I would probably try and hit it in the morning as well…the wind looks like it will get jump on it pretty early mid-morning.

Monday’s Surf – Starting the week off slow

Monday looks pretty similar to Sunday. Mostly small but playful surf with some decent beach weather (but cooling off just a bit).

Look for a mix of WNW energy and some background SW swell. Most spots will continue to hold around knee high+ while the standout combo spots, mostly through San Diego and a few select spots in the other areas, will have some waist to chest high surf.

Winds will be light and variable through the morning with light onshore flow out of the W around 10 knots for the afternoon.

Again it looks like a mostly longboard day…unless you are lucky enough to live close to some of the top San Diego surf spots. Those best breaks may have a bit more punch to them…might be able to get your fish or small wave board out and pick off a few.

Don’t spend a ton of time looking for waves…unless you have the day off and driving around from beach to beach is how you like to spend your time…because there would likely be a lot of that. There just won’t be a ton to find out there. Best bet is to just get a few longboard waves at your local spot and call it a morning.

Friday's Surf: I wish the weekend would get here already

Sorry about all the random posts today...for some reason I am quite bloggy. I will warn you that I will probably post one more this evening because there is a pretty good looking SW swell lining up for Baja, Mainland Mex, and Central America next week.

Anyway on to the surf.

Friday will have a few waves but overall it will be on the small side and probably better for longboarding than anything else.

We will have a mix of small WNW windswell energy and some weak SW swell. Again most spots will hold around knee high...maybe knee high+ on the sets. Standout combo spots, mostly through Orange County and San Diego will have surf in the waist-high+ range.

It will be clean in the morning with winds starting off light and variable. Eventually the winds will turn onshore out of the W-NW around 10-15 knots during the afternoon.

Your best bet is to break out the log...find some cold water wax and work on your nose-riding. There won't be a lot of push to the surf but a few of the beach breaks with decent sandbars should have a faster section or two. I would try and surf early...the lighter winds will definitely help shape...once the bounce gets to it in the afternoon it will be pretty ugly.