Tuesday’s Surf – Surfing anyone?

Tuesday is looking like a surf day.

We are going to have a mix of S-SW swells (180-210) and some increasing WNW windswell. Both the southern hemi swells and the local windswell will be punchy enough that if you only have a spot open to one of the directions there should still be enough energy to catch a few waves on the lower tides.



Average spots will have waves in the waist-chest high range. The better S facing spots, and ok combo breaks, will be around chest-shoulder high on the sets. Standout S-SW facing spots, and the excellent combo spots (mostly through Orange County and San Diego) will have chest-head high sets.

Winds will be decent as well...mostly light and variable through the morning and WNW around 10-12 knots for the afternoon.



I managed to get a session in on Monday (now that some of the holiday weekend chaos subsided)...the local beach break had a lot of chest high sets and even a few dumpy combo peaks rolling through as the tide filled in.

Tuesday is going to be pretty similar...I think that your best bet is going to be at the combo swell beach breaks, particularly spots that can handle a little more tide (it will make your session last a bit longer). If you can I would try and hit it early, right after the tide bottoms out. Points and reefs will be a good backup as well...though they might be a little broken up if they have a little too much WNW exposure. Plan on bringing your wetsuit...the water is still pretty chilly most spots.

Here are the tides...

04:35AM LDT -0.6 L
11:01AM LDT 3.6 H
03:33PM LDT 2.3 L
09:37PM LDT 5.8 H

Tropical Update – Tropical Storm Blanca

Well the second named tropical storm of the season spun up pretty fast here on Monday.

Newly formed Tropical Storm Blanca (I don't know if any of you watch that showtime show Weeds...but it is hard to hear "Blanca" without thinking about it)...pulled together about 900 Miles SE of Southern California (and about 400+ miles SSW of the tip of Cabo). Blanca is currently moving WNW (305-degrees) at about 8-10 knots.

Check out the NWS forecast for Blanca...



As of this afternoon the core of TS Blanca is already in the Southern California swell window. She has sustained winds around 40-45 knots with gusts near 60-knots in the NW and NE quadrants. As you can see the forecast has her shuffling off to the west and weakening as she hits colder water in the next couple of days.



Right now the storm has a couple of good things going for it and a couple of bad things.

On the good side...it is fairly close to SoCal...so if it does send out swell we won’t have a ton of decay eroding the energy out. Also the WNW movement is a fairly good angle for us...it isn’t directly at us but it keeps the “the intense” portion of the fetch closer to the side we want it to be on.

On the bad side, it isn’t all that intense...wind speeds aren’t great which will limit swell production. Also, she is going to hit cold water pretty quickly, which will kill the storm’s convection/rotation.

From a surf perspective I do expect a little SE swell from TS Blanca...she has good rotation, and ok winds, plus she is closer than a lot of storms get. I would look for a few chest-high+ waves at the SE facing spots, mostly in OC, around Wednesday/Thursday of this week...and if the storm can hold together (or get more intense) we could add some size to that.

Anyway that is what I have for now...I will update you if something changes.

Surf for Monday – Is the circus over yet?

Monday will be a sort-of surf day…but we are still going to have wind and tide issues for a lot of areas.

On Monday we are going to see a mix of S-SW swell (190-215) from a couple of overlapping southern hemi swells. We are also going to have some background, and very short period, NW windswell. The S-SW swells have slowly been shifting more southerly over the last day so more energy has been starting to slip into spots that were shadowed earlier in the weekend. Check out the current CDIP…



Wavewise the average spots are going to be in the waist-chest high range through the early morning. The standout breaks, mostly through Orange County, the more exposed areas of North LA, and a few North San Diego spots, will be running more consistently in the chest-shoulder high range…maybe even a couple of bigger ones on the early low tide. The building tide is going to swamp out a few of the more sensitive by midmorning so if your local spot needs a lower tide you are going to want to get on it pretty early.

Winds will be similar to what we had over the weekend…so expect a light, but consistent, westerly flow around 4-8 knots through the morning and then W-NW winds around 10-15 knots by the afternoon. The current NWS wind model is showing a cleaner pocket around the South OC and North SD area (right through the areas that have the higher coastal hills)…so there may be a few cleaner waves through there in the morning. Don’t expect it to last too long though.



Overall I think your best bet is going to be to try and surf the dawn patrol. The winds will be lighter and the tide will be coming off the negative low (that hits around 4am)…the combo of that with the fun-size swell should set up a few rideable (maybe even fun) waves at the S facing spots. I don’t think you should drive very far tomorrow…the conditions won’t hold up, and with both increasing wind and higher tides the shape will fall apart fast. The waters temps are still jacked up too (HB Guards are calling the pier 55 degrees today)...bring all of your rubber if you are going out.

Here are the tides…and if you get a chance, maybe pick up a piece of trash when you are heading back to the car in the morning (you guys are probably on it already…sorry I am not usually so earthy in the forecast…the beach is just nasty after the big holidays.)

04:05AM LDT -0.6 L
10:34AM LDT 3.6 H
02:58PM LDT 2.4 L
09:05PM LDT 5.8 H