THE Surf Report 3/23/12

Facsimile.

SURF:
Not a bad little week of surf. Had some fun SW/NW combo surf mid-week with clean conditions. I'll take that.

Last night we had a small bump from the NW for waist high+ surf around town with the occassional chest high set in south SD. There was also some small knee high SW filtering in north county SD and waist high waves in the OC. This morning is more of the same as the NW peaked last night and we have slowly dropping small NW through tomorrow.

Then we get solid NW Sunday afternoon- and then we get solid S winds along with a new storm. Bummer. If you liked last weekend then you'll love this weekend. Look for Sunday morning to have S winds and building stormsurf with big junky conditions late in the day. In a nutshell, Saturday will be small and Sunday will be stormy. Not the best weekend lining up unfornuately.

Tides the next few days are 3' at sunrise, 4.5' mid-morning, 0' late afternoon, and back to 3' at sunset. Water is still a chilly 56 degrees. Nothing says spring like a 4/3! Make sure to keep up to date on the waves and weather this weekend at Twitter/North County Surf.

FORECAST:

The storm will still have lingering effects into Monday so look for more overhead jumbled waves to start the day. Things start to clean up Tuesday for waist high+ NW windswell. Wednesday looks pretty small but good conditions. Thursday we get a small waist to chest high bump in SD from the NW with some more similar sized NW lining up for next weekend.

The southern hemisphere has been active and we have a solid storm on the charts today that should send swell to us next weekend. I'm hoping for head high surf in SD and overhead surf in the OC. And maybe the weather will cooperate finally?

WEATHER:

Low clouds and fog this morning will give way to hazy cool sunshine this afternoon. Saturday looks to be the same. Nothing exciting- just a typical spring day. As advertised above, Sunday is going to be stormy with S winds in the 20mph range and rainfall estimates of 1/2" at the coast. Monday the storm starts to exit the region for breezy NW winds and partly cloudy skies. The rest of next week gets back on track with cool conditions and night and morning low clouds.

BEST BET:
Probably next weekend when the weather finally cooperates and that new good SW swell shows up. Or if you're desperate- try some Sunday afternoon stormsurf on for size.

NEWS OF THE WEEK:
With the solid storm last weekend and another one coming Sunday, where do we stand at our rainfall for the season? It's been a wild season with above average rainfall in the fall, then a dry winter, and now a wet start to the spring. Here's the latest totals:
-Newport Beach 4.39" so far. Only 37% of normal to date (11.88"). Total average yearly rainfall should be 12.76"
-Oceanside 6.76" so far. Only 56% of normal to date (11.98"). Total average yearly rainfall should be 12.50"
-San Diego 6.80" so far. Only 76% of normal to date (8.96"). Total average yearly rainfall should be 10.77"
With the storm this weekend, we should add another 0.5". Since we're moving away from the rainy part of our season, I don't see us hitting our average rainfall this year. But the weather sure has been screwed up lately so it wouldn't shock me if we got a couple big dumps and put us right where we should be...

BEST OF THE BLOG:

Hope you've been watching the ASP's 6 Star Prime event at Margaret River this past week. Occy's been killing it! Yes, that Occy. With big burly bumpy surf, place your bets on the guy with the tree trunk legs. Amazingly, he's in the quarterfinals of the event. And on the other side of the draw is John John- 26 years the junior of Occy. How solid of a final would that be?! Also on the blog this week- spring break specials! Deals on boardies, sunnies, and sandals for your trip to Cancun next week. And of course the mid-week Surf Check and a more in-depth THE Surf Report. Check it out in the blog below!

PIC OF THE WEEK:

I swear I don't know how I come across these pics. I'm dumbfounded by this set up. There's at least 4 legitimate line-ups in this shot. And a couple more if the swell gets big of the northern point and inside cove. Throw in some tropical weather, warm water, and lack of crowds, and I might just find a way to retire there. Today. If you want to go, check out the travel brochures at The Perfect Wave.

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn
Smooth Operator
Finalist. Again.
Phil Edwards The Sequel