Monday’s Surf – more waiting around but with a few sneaky fun ones lurking around

Personally I don’t think Monday will be much of a surf day…I like a little more juice and consistency to my swell mix...but that is more personal preference than anything. If you don’t mind riding the small-wave boards of mind talking a little story in the line-up between sets then Monday won’t be a total right off.

There will plenty of different swells in the water but non that really standout. There will the small but seemingly ever-present S-SW swell mix from the Southern hemi, there will be a touch of local windswell and the forecast models are calling for a little tropical style energy…but I think they have been hitting the booze a little hard this weekend.



Make sure to head over to www.socalsurf.com for the full forecast, all the forecast details, as well as the automated swell data from WavewatchIII.

Waves for Wednesday – Morning leftovers…more weather arriving in the afternoon

Wednesday will be a surf day…at least in the morning.

Wednesday morning we will see a mix of mostly holding leftover WNW-NW energy and a touch of SW swell holding in the background. It will actually start off a touch smaller than Tuesday but overall should still be surfable at the well exposed spots (though you might want to avoid the early morning high tide. Late in the day a new mix of WNW-NW swell (280-300) and some new SW swell (190-215) will star to arrive…not showing much before dark, but possibly putting a couple of new lines into the top WNW and SW facing breaks before the sun sets.



For the morning…we can expect the average WNW facing spots and the good combo breaks to hold in the knee-waist high range. Standout WNW-NW breaks and the excellent combo spots will be more in the waist-chest high range with some inconsistent shoulder high sets mixing in on the lower tides.

Not much change for the afternoon but I would keep an eye on the NW facing breaks there may be a few bigger waves (or at least more consistent sets) starting to sneak in, particularly up around Ventura/Santa Barbara.

Winds will be pretty clean for the morning…sort of light/variable for most areas and a few pockets of E-NE winds near the passes and canyons. Look for building W-SW winds around 10-15 knots for the afternoon with some stronger near 20+ knot gusts hitting up around Point Conception as a new cold front arrives. Expect cloudy skies and a chance for rain later in the day.



So again nothing outstanding on tap for Wednesday…just fun, sort of soft, leftovers showing most areas and a few faster sections at the well exposed spots that can handle a little extra high tide. I would try and surf through the first half of the day…the approaching front is supposed to break down conditions pretty quickly by the afternoon evening. Personally I am going to shoot for midmorning…and hope the dropping tide wins the race against the wind/rain.

Make sure to check out the regional forecasts for the details for each county.

Regional/County Forecasts

Santa Barbara Surf Forecast
Ventura County Surf Forecast
Los Angeles County Surf Forecast
Orange County Surf Forecast
San Diego Surf Forecast

Here are the tides…

02/24/2010 Wednesday
04:57AM LST 5.3 H
12:38PM LST -0.7 L
07:10PM LST 3.5 H
11:54PM LST 2.0 L

Tuesday’s Surf – Cleaning up…with a few waves still out there

Tuesday will be a surf day.

Conditions clean up on Tuesday and we should still have enough swell in the water to get out and ride a few at the better exposed breaks. WNW-NW swell (280-300) that showed over the weekend continues to fade out while small SW energy holds in the background.



Sizewise…most WNW-NW facing spots and the good combo breaks will be in the waist-chest high range…mostly on the lower tides. The standout NW facing breaks, in Ventura, the South Bay, and Southern San Diego, will see surf in the chest-shoulder high range with a chance at some bigger sets at the best combo spots in San Diego (which has a little more exposure to the NW swell).

Winds will be clean in the morning with mostly light and variable to light offshore flow on tap for most areas. Look for the winds to stay light through midmorning before slowly shifting onshore out of the WNW-NW by the afternoon. Expect WNW-NW winds around 10-14 knots for most exposed spots by the afternoon.



So not super exciting for Tuesday…just not that much swell in the water…but with the cleaner conditions and enough energy to ride I do think that we can find a few fun ones here and there. I would probably stick with your smaller wave gear or good all-round board for most spots…maybe a faster shape if you live down in SD. I would try and get on it early because the nice winds won’t hold together forever and it will be cleaner the earlier you head out.

Make sure to check out the regional forecasts for the details for each county.

Regional/County Forecasts

Santa Barbara Surf Forecast
Ventura County Surf Forecast
Los Angeles County Surf Forecast
Orange County Surf Forecast
San Diego Surf Forecast

Here are the tides…

02/23/2010 Tuesday
03:44AM LST 4.9 H
11:54AM LST -0.2 L
06:46PM LST 3.1 H
10:44PM LST 2.5 L

Surf for New Years day – Happy New Year!

There were a few rideable windswell peaks on Wednesday…nothing exciting but not flat either. Looks like 2009 is going to start off with some pretty similar conditions.

All in all it looks like Thursday is going to be rideable…again not what I would call a “surf day” but it is a holiday, and if you don’t mind the fog, there are definitely worse ways to spend it that floating around picking off a few knee-waist high lines.

We are going to see the same mix of local WNW-NW windswell and some background energy from the WNW/SW from further away storms. Most spots will continue to see the knee-high waves with some bigger sets. Standout spots, mostly Ventura, The South Bay, and San Diego, will have some waist high surf with waist-high+ sets. Shape will be soft again for the morning as the tide fills in and will get…uh…slightly less soft on the low tide.

Winds look ok again…mostly light and variable through the morning and variable onshore to light onshore through the afternoon. The forecast models are calling for more of that cold-ass fog tomorrow as well.

I would just plan on surfing local…it won’t be worth driving very far or anything. Getting in a surf at your home break and then getting back to watch some football and nap on the couch sounds like a good way to spend New Year’s Day.

Have a good one…here’s to a good year!

12:21AM LST 3.7 H
05:25AM LST 2.4 L
10:59AM LST 4.4 H
06:15PM LST 0.4 L

Friday's Surf - Clean and Rideable but a little soft

Friday is looking surfable but like the last couple of days it will be on the soft side with the tide in the morning.

We are going to have a mix of mostly S-SW energy (180-205) from a couple of smaller overlapping swells. There will only be some small background swell out of the WNW but overall it will be smaller than what we have seen over the last couple of days.


a little bleak out there right now...

Wave heights will be in the knee-waist high range for spots that can handle the high tide in the morning (the ones that can't are going to be pretty small). The better S facing breaks and decent combo spots will be closer to waist high+ with sets...and the top S facing breaks and top combo spots through OC and San Diego will have a few chest-chest high+ sets. Expect to be waiting a while between the bigger waves though.

Winds are forecast to be similar to Thursday...mostly light to moderately offshore through the morning along with cold crisp morning air temps. NW winds come onshore around 10-14 knots through the afternoon.

Like I said above the conditions, and the fact that it won't be totally flat, keeps it in the surfable range tomorrow...it won't be super exciting but it will be better than say being tied to a computer and forced to work on TPS reports or something. I would plan on staying local, pick a spot that can handle the tide, and if you can aim for midmorning so that there will be a little less water and you don't freeze your nads off in the dawn patrol.



Here are the tides

05:14AM LST 4.2' High
11:06AM LST 2.4' Low
04:18PM LST 3.9' High
11:00PM LST 0.9' Low

Tuesday's surf - man I am ready for Fall

Tuesday looks rideable but I don't think it will be that great of a surf day.

The same small mix of S-SW energy and background short period WNW swell will continue to leak in.

Average spots will be around knee-waist high. Standout SW facing breaks and the good combo spots will be around chest high on inconsistent sets.

Shape will be on the soft side, particularly as we hit the high tides, but it will be surfable...and may even have a couple of halfway decent sections on the good sandbars at the low tides. I just wouldn't hold your breath waiting for the big sets.

Winds are forecast to be light and variable through the morning with some increasing W winds around 10-12 knots for the afternoons. There will also be some increasing humidity from Julio down in the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California or whatever you want to call it). With the extra humidity it will be worth watching the conditions later in the evening, the heavier air and potentially cooler temps inland may let us get some late evening clean-ups over the next couple of days.

Thursday’s Surf – SW swell with a side of eddy

Thursday will be a surf day…but it will be on the small side for most spots and there will be some texture thanks to a strengthening eddy.

In the water we will have a mix of holding SW swell and the ever-present local W windswell. Most spots will continue to see waist-high surf with some inconsistent chest high sets.
Standout SW facing breaks, mostly through South Orange County and San Diego, will have some chest-shoulder high waves sneaking through on the better tides.

Winds will be variable and slightly onshore for most areas tomorrow. The eddy is forecast to center over Palos Verdes/Long Beach tomorrow…which means that I am planning on seeing some light S winds for Orange County and San Diego and some light NW winds for Santa Barbara and Ventura. LA County, particularly the South Bay, will have variable winds…and likely slightly cleaner conditions.

I am not really seeing a “best” bet tomorrow…some spots will be better than others but nothing is really standing out comparatively. The bigger more consistent surf will show through San Diego and South OC but most of the best exposed breaks will likely have some of the eddy bump to it. The cleanest surf in those areas will be at spots that are protected from the S winds so I would probably check those first but even there I wouldn’t expect a whole lot from them. (man I am a downer). I guess where I am going with this is that there will be surf tomorrow…it won’t be great but it will be rideable. If you go with the right expectations you might be able to find a couple of decent ones.

Waves for Friday – Some fun peaks while we wait for our S swell

Friday will be surfable with small playful shape and cleaner conditions than the last couple of days.

Basically it will be a good day to shake the dust off before we get a few better waves over the weekend. Plus it is Friday and surfing is always better than work.

Not much change swellwise…still a mix of local windswell and some smaller S-SW energy. Most exposed breaks will hold around knee-waist high. Standout breaks, mostly in San Diego but in a few other areas as well, will have some chest high sets.

Here is today’s CDIP map…but expect tomorrow morning to look very similar to this.




Winds are looking better…there will still be a slight eddy in the morning but I think winds will be light and variable through the dawn patrol. Eventually they will pick up out of the S-SW around 5-8 knots through midday and then come onshore stronger in the late afternoon. (Saturday looks even cleaner).

I think it will be fun enough to pick off a few during the morning…you are still going to want your small wave gear but just the fact that winds are laying down will make it a lot more inviting. Personally I am having trouble getting motivated for the cool morning conditions so I may roll out with the vintage death log around mid-morning or lunchtime to catch a few.