Chasing rhinos with the rhino chaser.
SURF:
Pretty fun surf the past few days. The beginning of the week started small and foggy but by Wednesday a new WNW filled in and we had well overhead surf in SD. 
Today there is yet another WNW filling in and by now you’ve heard it’s going to be a doozy. Sets already are already overhead in north county SD/OC and double overhead in best south county SD spots. South OC- normally shadowed from Catalina and San Clemente islands- even have some head high waves.
The swell will build all day and peak tonight. Look for double overhead+ sets in north SD/OC, triple overhead at best south SD spots, and overhead sets in south OC. Sounds great until you realize most spots won’t be able to hold the size and the spots that can- you guessed it- will be crowded.
Also note we have some extreme tides again- about 6’ at sunrise, -1’ at 2pm and back up slightly to 2’ at sunset. Those mysto reefs should come to life this afternoon when the swell starts bombing. The swell will hold into Saturday before backing off in the afternoon. Sunday should be fun and manageable with head high waves around town. As with all good news, there’s bad news too. We should get a return of fog tomorrow and cold temps. Can’t wait to be sitting in the line up Saturday morning with visibility about ten feet in front of me and not being able to see the sets come in. Awesome. Water temps are still a chilly 57 degrees. Make sure to keep up to date on the waves and weather at Twitter/North County Surf.
FORECAST:
After the bombing weekend swell subsides, we’ve got small waves on Monday and then a fun sized NW arrives Tuesday for head high sets in town. The second half of the week looks small but charts are showing some new head high NW for next weekend. All in all some fun waves for the foreseeable future.
WEATHER:
Good weather on tap for early today but low pressure moving into the interior western states will kick up some fog here later today and tomorrow morning. Not a good thing when you’re when you’re out in the line up and you can’t see the sets- especially the double overhead ones. Things clear out tomorrow afternoon and the warm temperatures leave also- look for temps in the low 60’s Saturday. High pressure builds quickly though and we get better weather Sunday and temps around 70 again. That lasts until Monday and then yet some more fog on Tuesday and cool temps. Luckily things get back on track and we have nice weather again the 2nd half of next week. Hope you could follow me on that one.
BEST BET:
No brainer- bombing WNW today and good weather. NEWS OF THE WEEK:
Now that we’re in the throws of winter, I thought it was a good time to talk about summer hurricanes! 2011 has come to a close and we had an interesting hurricane season. Nothing extraordinary but more exciting than year’s past. NOAA reports that during the 2011 eastern north Pacific hurricane season, 11 named storms formed of which 10 became hurricanes and 6 became major hurricanes. 2 tropical depressions also formed that did not reach tropical storm strength. The long term averages are 15 named storms of which 9 should be hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes. For 2011 the number of hurricanes was average and the number of major hurricanes was above average (which is what scientists predict for the effects of global warming- more extreme weather). In terms of accumulated cyclone energy (i.e. ACE- which measures the combined strength and duration of tropical storms and hurricanes), activity in the eastern north Pacific was above normal with a value of 120 percent above the long term median. Of note was late season hurricane Kenneth which formed in November (and it was a major hurricane might I add). On average, since the beginning of the satellite era in 1971, a hurricane forms in the eastern north Pacific during November only about once every 10 years. Kenneth was the latest observed major hurricane on record. So what did the storms of 2011 look like? Here’s a quick glance:NAME DATES MAX WIND (MPH)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Major Hurricane ADRIAN 7-12 JUN 140
Hurricane BEATRIZ 19-22 JUN 90
Hurricane CALVIN 7-10 JUL 80
Major Hurricane DORA 18-24 JUL 155
Major Hurricane EUGENE 31 JUL-6 AUG 140
Tropical Storm FERNANDA 15-19 AUG 65
Hurricane GREG 16-21 AUG 85
Tropical Depression 8-E 31 AUG 35
Major Hurricane HILARY 21-30 SEP 145
Hurricane IRWIN 6-16 OCT 90
Major Hurricane JOVA 6-12 OCT 125
Tropical Depression 12-E 12-13 OCT 35
Major Hurricane KENNETH 19-25 NOV 145
BEST OF THE BLOG:
Had a buddy of mine at Rip Curl complain that all I talk about on the blog is deals on O’Neill fullsuits. So I did some snooping around and found one of Rip Curl’s top of the line suits- the 4/3 E-bomb- for a ridiculous $255. At that price you can get two- just to make sure you always have a dry suit for those dawn patrols. There’s also some new retail construction going in along highway 101 in Leucadia- a new bakery/café called Dos Palmas Panaderia and a wine bar and restaurant about to break ground called Costa Azulmysto sand sucking right, and the new anti-hero Dane Reynolds. And of course the mid-week Surf Check and a more in-depth THE Surf Report- all of that and more in the blog below!
PIC OF THE WEEK:
Sometimes it’s good to sell off the house, quit the job, pull the savings out of the bank, and get off the grid. Like backpacking through Europe. Sure you may only last a few years before the money runs out, but wouldn’t it be great to roll up to this little town on a rivermouth and discover a head high swell running down the point with no one out? Who’s with me?! Let’s do this!
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
HitchhikerElectoral College Valedictorian
Finding a Purpose for Purpus’ Porpoise
