Surf for Tuesday – small but playful combo

Tuesday is looking like a surf day.

We are going to have a mix of fading NW swell (290-300), steady but inconsistent SSW-SW swell (190-220), and some local NW windswell. It won’t be spectacular or anything...just sort of playful, with an occasional punchy peak showing at the combo spots.



Wave heights are going to average around waist-chest high at most spots...with slightly more consistent sets at the spots with more NW exposure. The standout breaks, mostly the NW standouts and the best combo spots, will be around chest-shoulder high on sets...but there may be a couple of bigger waves mixing in during the lower tides. Look for the biggest surf through San Diego, Southern Ventura, parts of the South Bay, and the better NW/SW combo areas in OC.

Winds look a little better than the last couple of mornings...mostly light and variable early, with a couple of weak onshore pockets at the most exposed areas. W winds pick up through the afternoon but don’t get much over 10-12 knots till later in the afternoon. Look for cloudy skies early...maybe even some patchy fog here and there. Sunnier skies burn through by the afternoon.



I think it is going to be playful all over tomorrow (except for the really shadowed areas...like most of Santa Barbara)...not great or even that consistent...just sort of fun. The mix of swells, the still warm water, and the not completely horrible morning tides all make a good argument to get a few waves. I don’t think it is worth driving a ton, mostly because the swell will be pretty similar throughout SoCal...but it will be worth driving a couple of extra minutes to a “standout” break if you live close.

Here are the tides...

01:34AM LDT -0.5 L
07:56AM LDT 4.4 H
01:18PM LDT 1.8 L
07:12PM LDT 6.0 H

Random Swell Update – New NW swell is filling in nicely

So I was looking through the buoys this evening (I know, I know I should probably get this case of “forecast OCD” looked at) and I am seeing the new NW swell (290-300) showing some decent size.

Check out the San Nicolas island buoy, which is sort of an outer buoy for Socal in the sense that it is more exposed to swells in the open ocean with less shadowing from Point Conception and the Nearshore Islands.



We won’t see all of this energy along our beaches but it is nice to see a good sized lump (considering that it is early/mid September) moving though our nearby stretch of ocean. I even think that I am going to add a little more size to the forecast tomorrow.


Nice to see some green on the chart!

So for Sunday…we can expect this NW swell (290-300) to mix with some background tropical SW swell (190-215) and some steady local windswell. Average W-NW facing spots are going to be in the chest-shoulder high range on sets. Standout NW facing breaks, particularly in Ventura, the South Bay, a few breaks in North OC, and most of the winter breaks in San Diego (biggest in the South County), will be more consistently in the chest-head high range, maybe even a few bigger sets mixing in at the top spots on the right tides.

If the periods were a bit longer I might have added more size to the surf tomorrow but as it is I think that it will still be plenty fun…and fairly consistent with punchy workable waves at the best exposed areas.

Winds still look a tad dicey tomorrow, not victory at sea or anything, but some onshore flow/texture at the more open spots…sort of westerly through SB down through North LA, variable through the South Bay, and sort of S-SW for OC and San Diego. It will still be rideable even with the bump/texture…but don’t expect perfect conditions. Have a good one…hopefully the update will help you grab a few tomorrow.