THE Surf Report

Word of the day: Doldrums

SURF:

Had a little bump from NW windswell on Tuesday and that's been about it since. Showers moved in yesterday and in it's wake today is some waist high+ NW windswell. Not a good way to start off the weekend. Tomorrow the clouds give way to sunny cool skies and the surf departs leaving knee high dribblers. Sunday will be the same. All in all, a pretty bleak weekend of surf. Maybe do some pre-spring cleaning?

Water temps are still high 50's and tides the next few days are 3' at sunrise, down to 0.5' at 11am, and up to 5' at sunset. If anything changes for the better, you'll be the first to know; make sure to keep up to date on the waves/weather at Twitter/North County Surf.

FORECAST:

Things look a little better next week but we have another weak cold front to deal with first. Monday we have some more NW windswell showing up for sets about chest high by Tuesday. That's from a weak cold front that will pass by to the north on Tuesday. Skies clear up the 2nd half of the week and we'll get a chest high NW groundswell on Thursday with bigger sets in south SD.

Models then show a fun NW groundswell arriving for next weekend for shoulder high sets here and maybe head high sets in south SD- along with a continuation of our good weather. So if you can suck it up this weekend, you'll be rewarded with rideable waves next week.

WEATHER:

Got a little shot of showers yesterday to help our current drought- but not by much (more on that below in the News of the Week). Today though we have a departing cold front with maybe a stray shower overhead. The weekend will be cool and sunny then our next weak cold front moves through on Monday evening. Probably no rain from this one but it will kick up the low clouds and fog. High pressure sets in for next week for nice cool sunny weather again.

BEST BET:
Meager NW windswell and cloudy conditions on Tuesday doesn't sound that appealing. I'm going to wait until Thursday when that next NW shows up with sunny skies. Or if I can wait even longer- next weekend for a better swell (if the models hold up).
 
NEWS OF THE WEEK:

We got rain finally! Nothing major, but a little to fill the coffers. Here's some stats from around So-Cal from yesterday's showers:
-Newport Beach 0.10"
-North County SD: 0.20"
-Downtown SD: 0.25"
So where does that leave us for the season? No where really. We're still REALLY far behind. Here's the totals for the year so far:
-Newport Beach: 1.14", only 15% of normal
-North County SD: 1.70", only 23% of normal
-Downtown SD: 2.34", only 41% of normal
Considering January/February are our rainiest months, we need some big dumpers to head our way the next few weeks. But it's not an El Nino year so that's not going to happen. So be prepared to replace that lush green lawn this summer with a succulent garden.

PIC OF THE WEEK:

I bought this pic last week from a shady street vendor along with a crumpled up map of the spot for $100. Basically the map was a blank piece of paper with a big 'X' on it, but it won't deter me from finding it.

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn
All Pro
Photogenic
Inventor of the Edible Surfboard Wax