Timeout.
SURF:
After a couple months of fun consistent surf, it’s time to take a little breather. Kind of a small week around here. Just minor waist high NW with a little bump yesterday afternoon for chest high sets. Today that swell has peaked and we’ve got some small fun waves this morning with more chest high sets. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there really isn’t any surf for the weekend. No major storms in the north Pacific the past few days means waist high or smaller waves for us this weekend. Wish I had better news. So get it today! 
Tides this weekend are 1’ at sunrise, about 5’ mid-morning, and down to 0’ late afternoon. Water temps are high 50’s. Make sure to keep up to date on the waves and weather at Twitter/North County Surf.
FORECAST:
After a dismal weekend of surf, there’s a good NW swell showing up for Monday but we have some weather associated with it too. Typical. Look for head high sets in north county SD/OC, some overhead sets in south SD, and some chest high sets in south OC. Just beware of the SW wind and showers. After that we’ve got a smaller chest high+ NW towards Thursday. Nothing major but at least there will be a couple rideable days next week.
Nothing much in the southern hemisphere either- but it does look like it's starting to wake up. I wouldn't be surprised if we had some fun southwest swell the 2nd half of March.
WEATHER:
Got some low clouds and fog this weekend. With the small surf it’s kind of dreary around here. I need a trip to Hawaii! Things don’t get much better as models show some showers developing Monday and breezy conditions. That clears out towards Tuesday and we’re left with clear cool skies the rest of the week.
BEST BET:
Tough call- we’ve got some leftover chest high sets today with a little bit of low clouds and fog. Or a bigger swell on Monday with showers. Or back to chest high waves and clear skies Thursday. I’ll take the lumpy bumpy swell on Monday. No crowds at least! NEWS OF THE WEEK:
NOAA put it out it’s monthly update for January a few days ago. All kinds of stuff going on. Take a gander…The globe experienced its 19th warmest January since record keeping began in 1880. Arctic sea ice extent was the fourth smallest extent on record for January at 7.5 percent below average. Additionally, La Niña conditions continued during January 2012. According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, La Niña is expected to dissipate during the Northern Hemisphere spring.
Global temperature highlights: January
•The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for January 2012 was the 19th warmest on record at 54.23°F, which is 0.63°F above the 20th century average of 53.6°F. Surface temperature anomalies for January 2012
•Separately, the global land surface temperature was 0.88°F above the 20th century average of 37.0°F, making this the 28th warmest January on record. Warmer-than-average conditions occurred across most of North America, the northern latitudes of Europe and Asia, southern South America, and most of Australia. Cooler-than-average regions included China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, south central Russia, much of the Middle East, northern India, north Africa, and southwestern Greenland.•The January global ocean surface temperature was 0.54°F above the 20th century average of 60.5°F, making it the 17th warmest January on record.
Polar Sea Ice and Precipitation Highlights
•The growth rate for Arctic sea ice in January was the slowest in the satellite record. The average sea ice extent for the month was 7.5 percent below average, ranking as the fourth smallest January extent since satellite records began in 1979. The extent was 425,000 square miles below average. This marks the 19th consecutive January and 128th consecutive month with below-average Arctic sea ice extent. Selected Climate Events for January 2012
•On the opposite pole, Antarctic sea ice during January was 13.8 percent above average, and the seventh largest sea ice extent on record for the Southern Hemisphere since records began in 1979.•Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent during January was slightly above average, with large differences between the North American and Eurasian land areas. Eurasia had its ninth largest snow cover extent in the 46-year period of record, where cold and snowy conditions dominated across central and Eastern Europe, as well as much of China. North America had its third smallest January snow cover extent, where much of the United States and southern Canada were warmer and drier than average, limiting snow cover.
•Monsoonal rains brought heavier-than-average rainfall to southwestern and southeastern Australia. Precipitation was also much above average in south Asia, part of eastern Russia, and southwestern Greenland. Much drier-than-average conditions were observed across northern Canada, the north central United States, eastern Brazil, and northern Sweden.
BEST OF THE BLOG:
The boys are back in town! If you’re reading this right now, then you’re not aware that the ASP World Tour has kicked back into gear (because you’d be watching the webcast instead) and it’s one big party right now on the Gold Coast of Australia (Mardi Gras has nothing on this event). Check out the overview of the upcoming ASP world tour on the blog. 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:
Nothing fancy this week. Just good old fashioned barreling rights. With tropical water to boot. And a rippable wall. And light winds. With no one on it. Definitely not Swami’s. For more action from the Maldives, check out Maldives Surf Trips.
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
ZeusClinically ‘Lin’sane
The Next Kolohe Andino
