Surf for Friday – building but with more wind

Friday with have waves but conditions will keep it from being much of a surf day.

Wave heights continue to build on Friday but increasing onshore winds will hamper shape from early-midmorning on.

Swellwise we are going to see a small, peaking SW swell (200-220), building WNW windswell, and building SE swell from Tropical Storm Dolores.


Wave heights are going to be in the waist-chest high range at most exposed spots on Friday. The combo beaches are going to see the most consistency early in the day but the S-SE facing spots will see consistency build through the afternoon as the tropical swell fills in.

The standout S, SW, and top combo spots will be around chest high on the average sets...but will have some shoulder high+ waves coming through by the end of the day (though it will be hard to find a spot clean enough to really surf by then as well).





Winds are going to be problematic again...this variable onshore flow that we have seen the last couple of days will actually strengthen more on Friday. I still expect some semi-clean conditions around sun-up, with building onshore flow by midmorning and continuing through the afternoon. Look for variable-W winds around 4-5 knots through the morning. WNW winds 10-15 knots will push through by the afternoon.

It will be Friday, it will be sunny/warm weatherwise, and there is a little building swell in the water...even though shape won’t be that great it will at least be worth giving it a look if you live close by. I wouldn’t drive very far for the surf... unless you are planning on just hanging out near the beach all day anyways. This onshore bump is getting sort of ridiculous...I am getting ready to sell my kidney for some slightly offshore winds for 18 hours.

Here are the tides...

12:40AM LDT 0.6 L
07:08AM LDT 2.8 H
10:44AM LDT 2.4 L
05:36PM LDT 5.7 H

Surf for Friday – maybe I should add a title

Friday will be a surf day...overall nothing great, but still fun in the right spots.

We will have a mix of S-SW swell (180-210) coming out of the Southern Hemi, some quickly fading SE swell (160-170) from former TS Blanca, and some increasing NW windswell.

That tropical swell showed up on Thursday with a bit more energy than I was expecting...a few of the better exposed SE spots had some shoulder-head high sets. It definitely didn’t show everywhere but if you were around SE facing spots in North OC (and a few of the other good SE facing spots in the other counties) there were a few decent sized waves.



Friday’s wave heights will be pretty similar to Thursday’s...average exposed spots will be around waist-chest high on the lower tides. The better S facing spots and good combo spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range on the inconsistent sets. The standout S spots (that have some SE exposure) will be more consistently in the shoulder high+ range through the morning but will lose size and consistency as we move into the afternoon.

The slight eddy conditions will also continue on Friday. We can expect mostly light and variable winds through Santa Barbara, Ventura, and LA tomorrow. Orange County and San Diego will see slight southerly winds around 5-6 knots through the morning. WNW winds 10-14 knots move back in through mid-afternoon.



Like I said it looks “ok” tomorrow...nothing really stands out, other than a few of the top SE facing spots, and those won’t be worth driving very far to look at. Still I think it will be a surf day...we have light winds and low tides in the morning as well as a playful swell mix...add in that water temps are climbing out of the cellar (somewhere in the 61-63-degree range) and it makes a good case for getting in the water.

Here are the tides...

06:01AM LDT -0.2 L
12:27PM LDT 3.8 H
05:26PM LDT 2.3 L
11:14PM LDT 5.0 H