THE Surf Report 9/7/12



 

Summer keeps chugging along

SURF:
Had a fun week of surf. After the solid S/NW the past weekend, we got little reinforcements from the SW and tropical storm John to give us rideable waves through the work week.

 

Today we have leftover SW swell for waist high surf in north county SD and some chest high waves in the OC.

Unfortunately that swell backs off this weekend and we're left with a small NW windswell on Sunday. Spots in north county SD will be waist high+ and best south county SD spots will be chest high. At least the weather is going to be good- and the water is still holding at 70.

Tides the next few days are pretty mellow; 2' at sunrise, 4.5' at 2pm, and down to 2' again at sunset. Make sure to keep up to date on the waves and weather at Twitter/North County Surf.

FORECAST:

We've got 3 little systems on the southern hemisphere charts but nothing major. Should give us some rideable chest high waves though towards the OC. First up is a storm that formed yesterday and will give us a shout of SW swell towards Wednesday. After that is another similar sized storm for surf late next weekend (see above). And further out we may have a better swell from the S towards the 21st.

From the north Pacific, things are starting to get into gear for fall. Nothing real on the charts but we should have a bump from the NW towards Tuesday- about the same size as this weekend's NW- look for chest high waves in south SD. All in all nothing exciting but little waves here and there from the SW and NW.

WEATHER:

Interesting weekend on tap. Today we have great weather- sun is already out, no low clouds/fog, and temps near 80 again at the beaches. Then tomorrow gets interesting... models show a small low pressure system setting up over northern Baja which may suck some monsoonal moisture over the entire southern California area- not just the mountains and deserts as usual. If that's the case, the beaches late tomorrow into Sunday may get some light showers. At least it will feel tropical. Once that system leaves the region, we get a little more low clouds/fog the middle of next week- then models hint at high pressure building again for another great weekend on the 14th.

BEST BET:
Maybe next Wednesday with 2 small swells showing up from the SW and NW. Nothing exciting but there should be little wedges most everywhere.

NEWS OF THE WEEK:



 

I don't know how many stories I can do on interesting critters that showed up in the ocean this summer. From the Killer Whales, to the Great Whites, to the Makos, to the swarms of big purple jellyfish, I don't know if there's much more to report on. Oh- except for the recent run of Leopard Sharks in our waters. The San Diego Union Tribune did a story this week  on the harmless fish. Or so they say they're harmless. Here's the scoop:

 

"One of San Diego’s most intriguing seaside sights should be in fine form this weekend, if recent trends hold true for hundreds of leopard sharks that congregate offshore of La Jolla Shores each summer. The harmless creatures have been swimming particularly close to the coastline over the past few weeks, said Nigella Hillgarth, executive director of the Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla. “This will be a good weekend to see them,” she said Friday. “They are in large numbers and easily spotted. You can even see them in the surf.” Leopard sharks, named for their splotchy skin patterns, aren’t rare; they are commonly caught by pierside fishermen. What’s notable about La Jolla Shores is how close large numbers of leopards come to the water’s edge in a place that’s well-suited for snorkeling. “Generally, they are kind of along the Baja coastline all of the way up California,” said Ron Clough, founder of the California State Shark & Ray Count based in Ventura. “The real heart of where you are going to find the heaviest populations is down there in San Diego.” Leopard sharks have small teeth and a mouth adapted for eating off the seafloor. They cruise quietly in the shallows near La Jolla’s Marine Room restaurant as children play in the waves just feet away. “Even if you are cut and bleeding in the water, they will still not attack you,” Clough said. Their shadowy shapes can shock unsuspecting visitors, but the sharks are a source of curiosity for snorkelers and kayakers who frequent a place that some call “shark city.” “It is amazing to have sharks that are four to five feet long swimming around in large numbers where there are thousands of visitors,” Hillgarth said. Clough also is intrigued by the animals. “When you see them swimming in the kelp, the way they blend in is really kind of spectacular,” he said. Of course, the creatures haven’t gone unnoticed by tourism boosters and businesses, who tout them along with other coastal phenomena such as harbor seals and caves in La Jolla. Leopard sharks have become so well-known that the aquarium is bringing aboard leopard shark scientist Andy Nosal next year. He plans to continue researching the mysteries of the species and talk with patrons about the leopard sharks, which show up regularly in La Jolla each summer and dwindle when water temperatures drop. Their movements haven’t been entirely explained. “They are all females and pretty much every one is pregnant,” Hillgarth said of the local summer population. The strange part, she said, is that researchers hardly ever see newborns off La Jolla, so they don’t think the sharks are giving birth there. Instead, Hillgarth said pregnant sharks appear to be speeding up their gestation process by lolling in warm waters, then traveling somewhere else to have their young. Where that is, “we don’t know,” Hillgarth said. “I think that is exactly the kind of question that Andy is trying to answer.”

BEST OF THE BLOG:

It's time to reflect back on all the giant southern hemi swells we had this summer. Actually, just 1 good south- and that was last weekend. Jamie O'Brien decided to catch some bombs at the Wedge and paid the price a few times. I even through in some bonus Wedge footage from the summer of 2009 which was a little bigger and cleaner. Check out the blog for the re-cap. And of course a mid-week Surf Check and an in depth THE Surf Report. All of that and more in the blog below!

PIC OF THE WEEK:

 

  

 

Gotta love your bros who go on vacation and score solid surf- then send you pics to rub it in. All the while I'm stuck at home with Phoenix tourists bobbing in the shorebreak. Cool. So enjoy these pics of vacations well spent and start saving your pennies! 

 

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn
Chieftain
Glenn/Carrot Top '12
Learning From My Mistakes, 1 Wipeout At A Time