THE Surf Report

 

Not Out Of The Woods Yet.

SURF:

Not much surf this week (or sun for that matter) as low pressure systems to our N are bringing just enough clouds to squeeze out some drizzle but not strong enough to kick up some surf. For tomorrow though, another cold front will swing by to the N of us but this time it will kick up some NW windswell. Look for a breezy day tomorrow and surf in the chest high range with head high sets late. On Saturday, the NW windswell starts to wind down while the wind backs off too. We'll also have a touch of small SW to break up the NW for fun chest high surf. Sunday looks to be the same. And here’s the sun, tides, and water temps for the upcoming weekend:

• Sunrise and sunset:
• 6:05 AM sunrise 
• 7:28 PM sunset 

• Water temps are low 60's in SD and high 50's in LA.

• And not much change in tides this weekend:
• just under 0' at sunset
• and only up to 2.5' in mid-afternoon

FORECAST:

For next week, there's not much on the charts. Looks like some waist high combo SW/NW. 

Our next shot of good surf may not be until the week of May 6th as a storm is forecasted to form this weekend off Antarctica and we could see shoulder high waves in about 10 days. But until then- we wait. If anything changes between now and then, make sure to follow North County Surf on X (Twitter).

WEATHER:

As mentioned above, looks like 1 last (?) cold front will sweep through tomorrow. It's not really a rainmaker but we'll have a chance of showers tomorrow morning and winds in the 15 mph+ range. After that, we have sun for the weekend and low clouds in the nights/morning and afternoon sunshine next week. Here's what we have on tap for the next several days:

• Friday: Chance of showers in the AM then sun and breezy. Temps 62/55.
• Saturday: Sunny and nice. Temps 64/53.
• Sunday: Lots of sun and warmer. Temps 67/55.
• Monday and beyond: Morning low clouds and afternoon sun. Temps 68/55

BEST BET:

• Saturday with dropping NW, a touch of SW, and cleanish conditions
• Sunday with small NW and small SW BUT... clean conditions
• Maybe Monday the 6th with good SW if you can wait that long...

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

Before wave pools were fashionable, artificial reefs were all the rage. But the ocean is a fickle beast and getting artificial reefs working as a wave magnet or habitat for fish was tricky at best AND expensive. Engineers at MIT though have designed an 'architected' reef that can mimic the wave-buffering effects of natural reefs while providing pockets for marine life. The sustainable and cost-saving structure could dissipate more than 95 percent of incoming wave energy using a small fraction of the material normally needed. Here's their report:

The beautiful, gnarled, nooked-and-crannied reefs that surround tropical islands serve as a marine refuge and natural buffer against stormy seas. But as the effects of climate change bleach and break down coral reefs around the world, and extreme weather events become more common, coastal communities are left increasingly vulnerable to frequent flooding and erosion. An MIT team is now hoping to fortify coastlines with "architected" reefs -- sustainable, offshore structures engineered to mimic the wave-buffering effects of natural reefs while also providing pockets for fish and other marine life.

The team's reef design centers on a cylindrical structure surrounded by four rudder-like slats. The engineers found that when this structure stands up against a wave, it efficiently breaks the wave into turbulent jets that ultimately dissipate most of the wave's total energy. The team has calculated that the new design could reduce as much wave energy as existing artificial reefs, using 10 times less material.

The researchers plan to fabricate each cylindrical structure from sustainable cement, which they would mold in a pattern of "voxels" that could be automatically assembled, and would provide pockets for fish to explore and other marine life to settle in. The cylinders could be connected to form a long, semipermeable wall, which the engineers could erect along a coastline, about half a mile from shore. Based on the team's initial experiments with lab-scale prototypes, the architected reef could reduce the energy of incoming waves by more than 95 percent. "This would be like a long wave-breaker," says Michael Triantafyllou, the Henry L. and Grace Doherty Professor in Ocean Science and Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. "If waves are 6 meters high coming toward this reef structure, they would be ultimately less than a meter high on the other side. So, this kills the impact of the waves, which could prevent erosion and flooding."

Details of the architected reef design are reported today in a study appearing in the open-access journal PNAS Nexus. Triantafyllou's MIT co-authors are Edvard Ronglan SM '23; graduate students Alfonso Parra Rubio, Jose del Auila Ferrandis, and Erik Strand; research scientists Patricia Maria Stathatou and Carolina Bastidas; and Professor Neil Gershenfeld, director of the Center for Bits and Atoms; along with Alexis Oliveira Da Silva at the Polytechnic Institute of Paris, Dixia Fan of Westlake University, and Jeffrey Gair Jr. of Scinetics, Inc.

Leveraging turbulence

Some regions have already erected artificial reefs to protect their coastlines from encroaching storms. These structures are typically sunken ships, retired oil and gas platforms, and even assembled configurations of concrete, metal, tires, and stones. However, there's variability in the types of artificial reefs that are currently in place, and no standard for engineering such structures. What's more, the designs that are deployed tend to have a low wave dissipation per unit volume of material used. That is, it takes a huge amount of material to break enough wave energy to adequately protect coastal communities.

The MIT team instead looked for ways to engineer an artificial reef that would efficiently dissipate wave energy with less material, while also providing a refuge for fish living along any vulnerable coast. "Remember, natural coral reefs are only found in tropical waters," says Triantafyllou, who is director of the MIT Sea Grant. "We cannot have these reefs, for instance, in Massachusetts. But architected reefs don't depend on temperature, so they can be placed in any water, to protect more coastal areas."

The new effort is the result of a collaboration between researchers in MIT Sea Grant, who developed the reef structure's hydrodynamic design, and researchers at the Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), who worked to make the structure modular and easy to fabricate on location. The team's architected reef design grew out of two seemingly unrelated problems. CBA researchers were developing ultralight cellular structures for the aerospace industry, while Sea Grant researchers were assessing the performance of blowout preventers in offshore oil structures -- cylindrical valves that are used to seal off oil and gas wells and prevent them from leaking. The team's tests showed that the structure's cylindrical arrangement generated a high amount of drag. In other words, the structure appeared to be especially efficient in dissipating high-force flows of oil and gas. They wondered: Could the same arrangement dissipate another type of flow, in ocean waves?

The researchers began to play with the general structure in simulations of water flow, tweaking its dimensions and adding certain elements to see whether and how waves changed as they crashed against each simulated design. This iterative process ultimately landed on an optimized geometry: a vertical cylinder flanked by four long slats, each attached to the cylinder in a way that leaves space for water to flow through the resulting structure. They found this setup essentially breaks up any incoming wave energy, causing parts of the wave-induced flow to spiral to the sides rather than crashing ahead. "We're leveraging this turbulence and these powerful jets to ultimately dissipate wave energy," Ferrandis says.

Standing up to storms

Once the researchers identified an optimal wave-dissipating structure, they fabricated a laboratory-scale version of an architected reef made from a series of the cylindrical structures, which they 3D-printed from plastic. Each test cylinder measured about 1 foot wide and 4 feet tall. They assembled a number of cylinders, each spaced about a foot apart, to form a fence-like structure, which they then lowered into a wave tank at MIT. They then generated waves of various heights and measured them before and after passing through the architected reef. "We saw the waves reduce substantially, as the reef destroyed their energy," Triantafyllou says. The team has also looked into making the structures more porous, and friendly to fish. They found that, rather than making each structure from a solid slab of plastic, they could use a more affordable and sustainable type of cement. "We've worked with biologists to test the cement we intend to use, and it's benign to fish, and ready to go," he adds.

They identified an ideal pattern of "voxels," or microstructures, that cement could be molded into, in order to fabricate the reefs while creating pockets in which fish could live. This voxel geometry resembles individual egg cartons, stacked end to end, and appears to not affect the structure's overall wave-dissipating power. "These voxels still maintain a big drag while allowing fish to move inside," Ferrandis says.

The team is currently fabricating cement voxel structures and assembling them into a lab-scale architected reef, which they will test under various wave conditions. They envision that the voxel design could be modular, and scalable to any desired size, and easy to transport and install in various offshore locations. "Now we're simulating actual sea patterns, and testing how these models will perform when we eventually have to deploy them," says Anjali Sinha, a graduate student at MIT who recently joined the group.

Going forward, the team hopes to work with beach towns in Massachusetts to test the structures on a pilot scale. "These test structures would not be small," Triantafyllou emphasizes. "They would be about a mile long, and about 5 meters tall, and would cost something like 6 million dollars per mile. So it's not cheap. But it could prevent billions of dollars in storm damage. And with climate change, protecting the coasts will become a big issue."

BEST OF THE BLOG:

SURF MEETING TOMORROW, FRIDAY THE 26TH IS POSTPONED! 

As luck would have it, cold fronts don't know to stay north this time of year and we're due for wind and showers tomorrow morning. So we need to postpone Friday's Surf Meeting. BUT... all systems are GO for...

Our 9th annual charity golf tournament- sponsored by Venture LLP! We'll be at Goat Hill on Friday, May 17th would would like you to join us but WE ARE ALMOST SOLD OUT! This year we'll be benefitting Foster the Earth, an organization dedicated to helping vulnerable children and young adults in the foster care system through exposure to the great outdoors. Cost is just $150 to play (and includes lunch from our friends at Senor Grubby's) and hole sponsorships are $250. It's first come, first serve- so if you haven't signed up yet, give a shout this weekend to northcountyboardmeeting@gmail.com or rich@logicopy.com to reserve your spot.

And if you can't make it, we do have a couple spots left for hole sponsorships to market your company and are always in need of auction/raffle items. So if you're looking to give back to your community and Foster the Earth- let me know if you have something you'd like to donate or sponsor. Thank you in advance for your support!

PIC OF THE WEEK:

Oldie but a goodie from the 1920's. As you may or may not know, the Santa Ana River currently separates the cities of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. But before the 1920's, the mouth of the river flowed out through Newport Harbor and into the sea at Corona del Mar instead. It was considered one of the best waves in California due to the deepwater sandbar picking up loads of surf and the long rides. But alas money won out and the jetties were built in the late 1920's/early 1930's to make way for the yachts (just proving my theory once again that Thurston Howell III did not surf). Every cloud has a silver lining though as one of the jetties resulted in the world famous Wedge. So all is not lost. To learn more about these unique waves, check out my story here.

Keep Surfing, 
Michael W. Glenn
Meteoric Rise
Mr. Irrelevant
I'm Old School; Still Use Paraffin Wax And Wear A Wool Sweater Out At Rincon

THE Surf Report

 

SURF:

Great surf this week (and ok conditions) thanks to solid SW swell and typical springtime low clouds. The SW peaked this morning but we'll still have fun chest high surf on Friday (and a touch bigger towards the OC). The fly in the ointment is that we have a weak low pressure system moving by the N so we'll have stronger than usual afternoon sea breeze. 

For the weekend, we'll see less wind and a smaller reinforcing SSW swell for more chest high sets (and a touch bigger again in the OC). No complaints. And here’s the sun, tides, and water temps for the upcoming weekend:

• Sunrise and sunset:
• 6:12 AM sunrise 
• 7:23 PM sunset 

• Water temps are low 60's

• And here's the tides for the weekend:
• about 3' at sunrise
• just over 4' at breakfast
• just above 0' mid-afternoon
• and back up to 4' at sunset

FORECAST:

For Monday, the SSW drops but the NW picks up to keep us in chest high waves. 

Then there's a reinforcing waist to chest high SSW late on Tuesday and holds mid-week. After that, the N and S Pacific take a breather and next weekend looks pretty small. If anything changes between now and then, make sure to follow North County Surf on Twitter.

WEATHER:

The rain has backed off and the April Graypril has returned. As mentioned above, a weak cold front is passing by to the N of us tomorrow and we'll have more low clouds and breezy conditions on Friday. For Saturday and Sunday, the sun returns and the wind backs off for a nice weekend. Another weak cold front moves by to the N of us Monday/Tuesday for more low clouds and then... the 2nd half of next week should be nice. Here's what we have on tap for the next several days:

• Friday: Mostly cloudy and breezy. Temps 65/53.
• Saturday: Sunny and nice. Temps 65/53.
• Sunday: Lots of sun and warmer Temps 70/55.
• Monday/Tuesday: Mostly cloudy. Temps 63/53.
• Wednesday through the week: Mostly sunny and pleasant. 

BEST BET:

• Friday: Leftover SSW but wind may be an issue.
• Saturday/Sunday: Smaller SSW but better cleaner.
• Monday: New small NW and leftover SSW.
• Tuesday: New small SSW late, leftover NW, but suspect conditions.

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

As if we didn't have enough to worry about with our water supply. A new report from UH Manoa states that as sea levels continue to rise, coastal groundwater is lifted closer to the ground surface while also becoming saltier and more corrosive. Awesome. Here are the details:

A recent study by earth scientists at the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa compiled research from experts worldwide showing that in cities where there are complex networks of buried and partially buried infrastructure, interaction with this shallower and saltier groundwater exacerbates corrosion and failure of critical systems such as sewer lines, roadways, and building foundations.

"While it has been recognized that shallowing groundwater will eventually result in chronic flooding as it surfaces, what's less known is that it can start causing problems decades beforehand as groundwater interacts with buried infrastructure," said Shellie Habel, lead author and coastal geologist in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at UH Manoa. "This knowledge gap often results in coastal groundwater changes being fully overlooked in infrastructure planning."

The research team aimed to create awareness about these issues and offer guidance from world experts on managing them. Habel and co-authors reviewed existing literature to examine the diverse effects on different types of infrastructure. Additionally, by employing worldwide elevation data and geospatial data that indicate the extent of urban development, they identified 1,546 low-lying coastal cities and towns globally, where around 1.42 billion people live, that are likely experiencing these impacts.

"The IPCC 6th Assessment Report tells us that sea level rise is an unstoppable and irreversible reality for centuries to millennia," said Chip Fletcher, study co-author, interim Dean of SOEST, and director of the Climate Resilience Collaborative (CRC) at UH Manoa. "Now is the time to prepare for the challenges posed by this problem by redesigning our communities for greater resilience and social equity."

Well before the visible effects of surface flooding, sea-level rise pushes up the water table and shifts salty water landward. With this, the subsurface environment becomes more corrosive to critical underground infrastructure networks -- buried drainage and sewage lines can become compromised and mobilize urban contamination, and building foundations can weaken. Extensive research conducted by the CRC has substantiated that critical infrastructure around the world, including drainage and basements, is likely currently experiencing flooding from rising groundwater levels. "The damage caused by sea level rise-influenced coastal groundwater is often concealed and not immediately perceptible," said Habel, who is based at the CRC and Hawai'i Sea Grant in SOEST. "As a result, it tends to be overlooked in infrastructure management and planning efforts."

The study authors emphasize the importance of research efforts that can contribute to informed adaptation strategies. "Being aware of these hidden impacts of sea level rise is of significant importance for the State of Hawai'i due to the concentration of communities situated along low-lying coastal zones where groundwater is generally very shallow," said Habel.

The CRC actively collaborates with partners across the nation and infrastructure managers in Hawai'i to gain a comprehensive assessment of how vital infrastructure, encompassing pipe networks, roadways, and buildings, is impacted. Understanding the impacts and risks associated with sea level rise-influenced coastal groundwater enables more effective management and adaptation.

BEST OF THE BLOG:

We got 2 ways to double your fun this spring!

First up...

The sun is out, spring is here, and we got surf- there's no better time for a Surf Meeting! Come on down to George's (just south of the Chart House in Cardiff) next Friday, April 26th at 8 AM to network, grab a bite before work, learn about our next charity event, and maybe catch a barrel or two. And the best thing- it's free! All you have to do is have a passion for surfing and want to support your community. What could be better on a Friday? Look for the tent as usual and hit up northcountyboardmeeting@gmail.com with any questions!

And secondly...

Just a reminder that our NINTH ANNUAL charity golf tournament- sponsored by Venture LLP- is happening FRIDAY, MAY 17th at... Goat Hill. Where else? This year we'll be benefitting Foster the Earth, an organization dedicated to helping vulnerable children and young adults in the foster care system through exposure to the great outdoors. Cost is just $150 to play (and includes lunch from our friends at Senor Grubby's) and hole sponsorships are $250. It's first come, first serve- so give a shout at northcountyboardmeeting@gmail.com or rich@logicopy.com to reserve your spot. Thank you in advance for your support!

PIC OF THE WEEK:

Looks like the Margaret River WCT event could end up with firing surf on finals day. Make sure to tune in to worldsurfleague.com at 4 PM on Saturday afternoon to watch the world's best (minus myself of course- I'll be at small Grandview if you want to watch me on surfline.com instead). 

Keep Surfing, 
Michael W. Glenn
Medalist
Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential
54 Years Of Age But Surf Like I'm 53

THE Surf Report

 

All Signs Point To YES

SURF:

Beautiful week with just a touch of small SW being broken up with small NW. Today the NW dropped off as the small SW held and the fog picked up from an approaching low pressure system. Friday looks to be the same with breezy conditions. 

For Saturday, the SW picks up to the waist high+ range (chest high in the OC) but showers and breezy weather is on tap. 

Sunday the NW picks up to the chest high range (along with more fun but small SW)- but showers may linger. All in all a touch more surf this weekend- but bumpy conditions. And here’s the sun, tides, and water temps for the upcoming weekend:

• Sunrise and sunset:
• 6:21 AM sunrise 
• 7:18 PM sunset 

• Water temps are 60 +/-

• Tides are MELLOW this weekend:
• about 0' at sunrise
• and up to 3' at sunset

FORECAST:

For Monday, conditions are cleaner as the NW (and smaller SW) peaks with shoulder high sets. For Tuesday, the NW windswell will be pick up late in the day as well as a new good SW for chest high waves. 

And then... I'll be turning on the Emergency Boardriding System on Wednesday as the NW windsweIf peaks and a good SW kicks off the southern hemi season. Look for head high+ surf and clean combo swell lasting into Thursday. We have a smaller, reinforcing SW later in the week to keep us in chest high surf. If anything changes between now and then, make sure to follow North County Surf on Twitter.

WEATHER:

Theres a reason they say 'April showers bring May flowers' because... showers are common in April? Friday is a transition day with low clouds hanging around and winds from the SW in the 15 mph+ range. For Saturday, showers kick in- as well as the wind- for 25 mph gusts. Sunday is a transition day, then the rest of next week is sunny and cool. Here's what we have on tap for the next several days:

• Friday: Mostly cloudy and breezy. Temps 66/54.
• Saturday: Showers and windy. Temps 63/49.
• Sunday: Clearing skies and a stray shower. Temps 60/50.
• Monday through the foreseeable future: Patchy fog in the AM then mostly sunny. Temps 64/52

BEST BET:

• Sunday: Fun combo swell BUT a touch of wind from the departing low pressure system.
• Wednesday/Thursday: Good combo swell and clean conditions.

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

It's long been debated on how our oceans formed. Comets were prime suspects, potentially delivering their icy payloads through impacts, but a new discovery throws a wrench in that theory. This new theory was originally based upon the atmosphere and the ocean accumulated gradually over millions and millions of years with the continual 'degassing' of the Earth's interior.

According to this theory, the ocean formed from the escape of water vapor and other gases from the molten rocks of the Earth to the atmosphere surrounding the cooling planet. After the Earth's surface had cooled to a temperature below the boiling point of water, rain began to fall—and continued to fall for centuries. As the water drained into the great hollows in the Earth's surface, the primeval ocean came into existence. The forces of gravity prevented the water from leaving the planet.

Now imagine though if an ocean vaster than all the water on Earth's surface combined, was hidden over 400 miles beneath our feet. This is the mind-boggling discovery scientists at Northwestern University have unveiled, shaking our understanding of where Earth's water comes from.

Researchers, led by geophysicist Steven Jacobsen, stumbled upon a colossal water reservoir trapped within the Earth's mantle, a scorching hot layer beneath the crust. This hidden ocean, three times the size of its surface counterparts, is cradled within a mineral called ringwoodite.

Scientists deployed a network of 2,000 seismographs across the US, listening to the whispers of the Earth itself. By analyzing the faint tremors from over 500 earthquakes, they noticed a curious slowdown in the seismic waves as they passed through specific regions of the mantle. This slowdown hinted at the presence of water, acting like a sponge within the rock.

This discovery completely rewrites our understanding of Earth's water cycle. It suggests water isn't just a surface phenomenon, but potentially exists within the mantle, migrating through cracks and crevices. Jacobsen emphasises the importance of this reservoir, stating, "Without this internal water source, Earth's surface would likely be a barren landscape, with only mountain peaks peeking out from a vast ocean."

The implications are far-reaching. Scientists are now eager to gather seismic data worldwide to see if this hidden ocean is a global phenomenon. This could revolutionize our understanding of how water moves within our planet, a fundamental process shaping Earth's history and potentially influencing the existence of life.

BEST OF THE BLOG:

Just a reminder that our NINTH ANNUAL charity golf tournament- sponsored by Venture LLP- is happening FRIDAY, MAY 17th at... Goat Hill. Where else? This year we'll be benefitting Foster the Earth, an organization dedicated to helping vulnerable children and young adults in the foster care system through exposure to the great outdoors. Cost is just $150 to play (and includes lunch from our friends at Senor Grubby's) and hole sponsorships are $250. It's first come, first serve- so give a shout at northcountyboardmeeting@gmail.com or rich@logicopy.com to reserve your spot. Thank you in advance for your support!

PIC OF THE WEEK:

Spot the lucky surfer. 

Keep Surfing, 
Michael W. Glenn
Pioneer
Not My First Rodeo
40 Years Of Surfing (April 14th, 1984). I'm Old

THE Surf Report

 

Impatience Is A Virtue

SURF:

Not much surf this past week EXCEPT for that funky day on Saturday. Just when it looked like all hope was lost during the storm, the wind stopped, the surf cleaned up, and there was surprisingly good surf for a short window on Saturday. And then that was it. I'm starting to get impatient. For the upcoming weekend, we may have a similar situation- or we may not- just depends how the storm tonight behaves. 

NW wind/groundswell is filling in off Central CA today and we'll see head high surf on Friday (bigger towards SD)- but who knows how the wind will behave. For Saturday, the skies clear and the surf drops to the chest high range. Sunday is clean and small. And here’s the sun, tides, and water temps for the upcoming weekend:

• Sunrise and sunset:
• 6:29 AM sunrise (paddle out at 6:15?)
• 7:13 PM sunset (paddle in at 7:30)?

• Water temps are 60 if you're lucky. 

• Tides are swinging for the fences this weekend:
• about 4' at sunrise
• up to 5.5' at breakfast
• down to -0.5' mid-afternoon
• and up to 4' again at sunset

FORECAST:

For Monday, a weak cold front moves N of us and will kick up the NW windswell again to the chest high range. 

For late Tuesday, a small SW fills in for waist high waves in north county SD and a touch bigger in the OC. After that, the N Pacific looks to be going into hibernation mode while the S Pacific MAY be coming to life. 

A storm today off Antarctica looks to send chest high sets our way around the 13th from the S while better storms could form in the coming week and send good SW swells around the 17th and 20th. If anything changes between now and then, make sure to follow North County Surf on Twitter.

WEATHER:

A new "storm" is headed our way tonight- but it's nothing like last weekend. Look for a breezy day tomorrow with up to 1/4" of rain (for comparison's sake, last Saturday's storm dropped up to 2" of rain) along with chilly temps (for SD). Saturday is a transition day and Sunday is sunny and cool. Monday has a touch more clouds- then sunny skies are here again for the rest of the week! And here's what we have on tap for the next several days:

• Friday: Breezy with showers. Temps 56/46.
• Saturday: Clearing. Temps 60/45.
• Sunday: Sunny and cool. Temps 60/50.
• Monday: Mostly cloudy. Temps 62/48.
• Tuesday to until forever? Sunny. Temps 71/53.

BEST BET:

• Friday if you can find a clean window as it will be the biggest day in quite awhile.
• Saturday- smaller and cleaner.
• Wednesday with small SW but clean.

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

THIS WEEKEND IN WEATHER HISTORY!

2019:
A storm system brought strong winds to the mountains and deserts. A wind gust of 98 mph was clocked at Burns Canyon.

2012:
A strong cold front moved through the region, bringing strong mountain wave activity to the deserts. Winds gusted as high as 80 mph, resulting in road closures and damage to a few mobile homes.

2010:
Two funnel clouds were observed by the John Wayne Airport. Five funnel clouds were observed by a police helicopter off the coast of Crystal Cove.

2000:
A storm that started on 3/4 and ended on this day brought up to 17 inches of snow in 24 hours to the mountains. 14 inches fell at Forest Falls. Strong thunderstorms produced golf ball size hail at Garden Grove, Santa Ana, and Running Springs. Strong thunderstorm wind gusts measured 60 mph at Huntington Beach. Property was damaged and trees were downed along the coast from Huntington Beach to Sunset Cliffs. 

1995:
Heavy rain that started on 3/5 and ended on this day dropped six inches in 24 hours and 10.34 inches in 48 hours at Idyllwild. 10.52 inches fell in 48 hours at Palomar Mountain. On this day eight inches of rain fell at Palomar Mountain, the third greatest daily amount on record. Floodwaters washed out a stretch of I-5, closing it for over a week. The overall toll from a series of Pacific storms: 27 killed, $3 billion in damage, and 10,000 homes damaged.

1992:
A series of storms that began on 3/1 and ended on 3/7 brought one to four inches of rainfall and local flooding.

1983:
This day marked the end of nine consecutive days (the most on record) of measurable precipitation in San Diego, which started on 2/26. This also occurred on 2/13-21/1980 and 2/5-13/1978. This day marked the end of 11 consecutive days (the most on record) of measurable precipitation in Idyllwild, a streak that started on 2/24. 1968: Heavy rain that began on this day ended on 3/8. One drowning death resulted. There was local flooding and damage to buildings, homes, and schools. Landslides closed several highways.

PIC OF THE WEEK:

It's almost Mainland Mexico time. Can we get The Search 'CT event back?!

Keep Surfing, 
Michael W. Glenn
Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise
No One's Beating UConn
Inventor Of The Tri-Skeg Surfboard

THE Surf Report

 

Welcome Back!

SURF:

Just when you thought winter was over, it pulls you back in. Got quite a mess this weekend- hope you enjoyed the relative calm this past week. Looks like we have a late season storm headed our way tomorrow and it will bring with it waves, wind, and wet weather. Friday starts off with partly cloudy skies and small conditions. 

By the time Saturday rolls around, we've got S wind and heavy rain while the storm surf picks up throughout the day. Sunday has more W wind, showers, and overhead jumbled NW surf. In summary- a stormy weekend with not much surf until Saturday afternoon for the die hards. And here’s the sun, tides, and water temps for the upcoming weekend:

• Sunrise and sunset:
• 6:37 AM sunrise
• 7:09 PM sunset 

• Water temps have dropped slightly to the high 50's.

• And an odd weekend for tides:
• about 1' at sunrise
• down to 0' mid-morning
• and up to 2.5' at sunset

FORECAST:

For next week, the storm exits the region on Monday and we'll leftover head high NW and breezy conditions. Most of next week looks small unfortunately as no real storms are forecasted to generate surf in the northern or southern hemispheres. 

Models though do show more storms off British Columbia late next week which could bring an additional round of showers and NW windswell for next weekend. And charts show the southern hemisphere getting it's act together later next week which could bring us good SW around mid-April. If anything changes between now and then, make sure to follow North County Surf on X/Twitter.

WEATHER:

Nice weather we're having. Too bad that will end this weekend. As mentioned above, a late season winter storm will bring up to 2" of rain this weekend and maybe 18" of snow to Big Bear (can't complain I guess). Most of next week should be sunny- then more showers next weekend? Who knows. And here's what we have on tap for the next several days:

• Friday: Partly sunny. Temps 62/50.
• Saturday: Heavy rain and breezy S winds up to 35 mph. Temps 58/50.
• Sunday: Showers and... windy with gusts to 25 mph. Temps 59/48.
• Monday: Transition day with clearing skies and NW wind. Temps 61/48.
• Tuesday to Thursday: Sunny. Temps high 60's to low 50's
• And showers again next weekend?...

BEST BET:

Really not much to say other than the rainy/windy days will have storm surf and the sunny cleaner days will be small! 

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

Did you know there is an artificial reef at San Onofre? Now before you get too excited and start paddling out, the reef lies half a mile offshore and sites in 40' of water. BUT... it is thriving with fish, and more importantly- kelp. Here's the San Diego Union Tribune with more:

An artificial reef built to offset marine life killed by the seawater cooling system at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is finally doing its job, now that the power plant has been shut down for more than a decade. The reef is essentially an anchor for giant kelp, which grows tall and thick to create the forests of the sea. A form of brown algae, the kelp reaches from the sea floor to the surface, creating a shady tower of shelter for all kinds of fish, spiny lobsters, sea otters, sea lions, sometimes whales and even birds.

Kelp forests provide a habitat for important commercial species of fish such as black rockfish and kelp bass. The slightly slimy ocean vegetable also is used to make a number of human products including shampoo, toothpaste, pharmaceuticals and food. Scientists knew early on that the nuclear power plant’s cooling system would stir up the ocean and degrade nearby kelp beds. They also knew it would vacuum up small fish. However, it took them years of study and collaboration to determine the full effects, design a plan to compensate for that loss, and tailor the plan for the desired results.

The Wheeler North Reef project met its required performance standards for things such as kelp growth and fish production for the first time during the past three years, according to the California Coastal Commission. Now the reef just needs to keep up the good work for an additional 27 years. The nuclear power plant, often called SONGS, shut down in 2013 after defects were found in its replacement steam generators. The commission requires the plant’s operator, Southern California Edison, to assure that the reef continues its contributions to sea life for as long as the plant operated, a total of 32 years. “It’s great to see this work moving forward ... to meet these restoration goals within these habitats,” said Commissioner Justin Cummings at this month’s Coastal Commission meeting.

The reef is named for Wheeler J. North, a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the California Institute of Technology. North, who died in 2002, was noted for his studies of California’s coastal kelp forests. His namesake reef is north of the power plant, a half-mile offshore and from 38 feet to 50 feet deep, extending 2.5 miles from San Mateo Point to the San Clemente Pier. It’s built entirely of rock mined from a quarry and pushed off a barge into the ocean.

As a result of the reef’s recent success, this month the commission unanimously approved a program to reduce monitoring, which will save the utility time and money. Instead of monitoring a total of 233 locations across the reef, the utility will be required to check only 166 locations beginning this year. “A lot of time and effort went into determining what the reduction would look like,” said Commission Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge. “Time and cost were factors ... but also that we would still have confidence in the results.”

A representative of the Surfrider Foundation said that perhaps it is too soon to scale back oversight. “This reef failed to meet performance standards for over 10 years,” said Mandy Sackett, senior California policy manager for the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation. “As of 2018, it had never met the standing fish stock requirement, despite the plant being in operation for decades,” she said. “We are grateful to see that the recent reef expansion has significantly increased the amount of times that the reef has met performance requirements, yet we feel strongly that the decades of insufficient performance would indicate a need for continued monitoring at the original frequency, at least in regard to fish stock assessments,” Sackett said.

Commission officials said they are confident that the reduced monitoring will be adequate and that it will be returned to former levels if any problems are found. “There is a lot of confidence that the reduced monitoring is going to be adequate to meet the permit conditions,” said Dan Reed, a research biologist at the University of California Santa Barbara’s Marine Research Institute. UC Santa Barbara’s Marine Research Institute is employed as the reef’s independent observer by the Coastal Commission with funding from Edison. Reed has been working on the project since 1993.

Construction of the reef was required by the California Coastal Commission in 1991 to offset the power plant’s effects on the marine environment. The commission also mandated the installation of additional barriers on the plant’s cooling system to reduce the amount of fish killed by the plant’s cooling system and the restoration of 150 acres of Southern California wetlands. Scientists found that as much as 65 tons of small fish and other sea life were killed every year when they were pulled into the cooling system’s 18-foot-wide underwater intakes. The plant used 2.4 billion gallons of seawater daily to cool its steam generators.

Also, when the warm water was returned to the ocean, even though it exited through many holes in a long outlet pipe, the resulting current stirred up sediment and clouded the water. The silt covered and killed marine plants and bottom-dwelling creatures. In its heyday, San Onofre produced electricity consumed across Southern California, including 20 percent of the juice used by San Diego Gas & Electric Co. customers.

SDG&E ratepayers also took on a 20 percent share of the costs of building the power plant, its mitigation projects including the reef and the restoration of the San Dieguito Lagoon in Del Mar, and now the ongoing demolition of the defunct power plant. Another ongoing cost to ratepayers and taxpayers is the expense of storing spent nuclear fuel at San Onofre. All of the fuel used since the 1980s remains on the site, packed into dry casks and parked at the edge of the ocean.

Initially, the Coastal Commission required a 150-acre reef to be built of low-lying boulders in the ocean north of the power plant near San Clemente First, plant operator Southern California Edison built a 23-acre experimental reef and monitored it for five years, Then, based on the results obtained from the experimental reef, Edison completed an additional 152 acres of reef in 2008.

However, the larger reef failed to produce the expected amount of fish, based on estimates of fish populations before the plant was built and compared to two similar natural reefs nearby. As a result, the commission required Edison to build an additional 193 acres, creating what Edison and the State Lands Commission say at a total of 373 acres in all is the largest artificial reef in the world.

Completion of the reef expansion in 2021 finally brought the thriving seaweed beds and fish families that the commission had been seeking for 30 years Divers collect data from specific locations, known as transects, to monitor the reef’s production. That data is compared to data for two natural reefs nearby in the region, but outside the influence of the power plant.

Each transect measures 3 meters wide, 15 meters long, and 1.5 meters up from the bottom. Initially, the transects were marked with cables anchored into the rock, but today divers use GPS coordinates to find them. “We dive a lot,” said Reed, of the Marine Research Institute, in a recent telephone interview. Two boats with six to eight divers visit the reef for about four days a week from the end of May through the end of October every year, he said.

“We basically just count fish and kelp, for the most part,” he said. However, some of the information needed requires the divers to collect the fish, mainly samples of five key species, and take them to a lab to be autopsied. Studies of the samples’ guts, gonads and eggs help determine how much the fish eat and reproduce. A close look at their ears determines age.

“The growth rate can be seen in ear rings, which add a layer of bone each year, much like tree rings,” Reed said. With the information collected the past three years, along with the previous cumulative results, the reef has met its production standards for a total of five years, according to the commission. Now it needs 27 additional years of continued satisfactory marine life production to meet the commission’s requirement.

After the results are achieved, the reef probably will remain in place, Reed said. No further monitoring will be required under Edison’s permit from the commission. “To me, it’s a success,” he said. “We get giant seabass through there ... weighing 400 to 500 pounds, white sharks. It’s a functioning reef.”

The area is completely open to the public, he said. During lobster season, it’s one of the most popular spots for lobster fishing along the Southern California coast. Well beneath the waves, the reef is only affected by the underwater tidal surge and currents. The rocks were placed in an area of relatively shallow sand supported by a hard substrate, so the reef is unlikely to sink into the ocean bottom. Sometimes ocean currents cover small areas with sand, but they also uncover other areas.

Edison does a sonar survey every five years to measure the actual coverage of the reef, Reed said. “It’s really about what it was when we put it in,” he said. “It hasn’t changed much at all.” The revised monitoring program should significantly reduce the time needed for diving and lab work, he said. The team will continue to report the reef’s status annually to the commission.

PIC OF THE WEEK:

Beacons going OFF this morning. Too bad the trail is still closed.

Keep Surfing, 
Michael W. Glenn
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