Summertime... and the living's easy.
SURF:
Not a lot happening the past few days and today is about the same. Just a small S swell showing best towards the OC with tiny NW windswell mixed. Most spots around town are knee high+ with the odd waist high+ set in the OC. We do though have a couple swells creeping our way for the weekend.
FORECAST:
The small SW that is filling in this weekend will fill in more on Monday/Tuesday and peak on Wednesday.
WEATHER:
Great way to start the 1st day of summer (it's Saturday in case you didn't know). High pressure in northern Baja is keeping our low clouds to a minimum and we'll have great beach weather by mid-morning. Air temps will be in the mid-70's on Saturday and all around it's looking like summer is right on schedule. A weak low pressure system will move by to the north on Sunday but all it will do is make the clouds take a little longer to burn off but no real June Gloom to speak of. High pressure then kicks in again for Tuesday and we're back to great weather mid-week.
BEST BET:
Peaking NW windswell on Tuesday but building SW swell. Then the SW peaks on Wednesday as the NW starts to back off. Either way the weather will be nice and the water warm. Just depends on your schedule. Cancel those meetings!
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
This is the honeymoon phase of the El Nino; hasn't kicked in 100% yet so we're left with great weather (June Gloom where art thou?) and we get to wear trunks in the spring time. Summer is kicking in this weekend so we should start to see a little more tropical weather towards early July, even warmer water temps, and then the full blown El Nino will come pouring down from the heavens this winter. But before I get ahead of myself, Saturday, June 21, marks the first official day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, when the sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky. AND... the summer solstice, as it's called, is the longest day of the year. The sun comes up around 5:40am (which means you can paddle out around 5:30am if there isn't much fog) and goes down around 8pm (which means you can get a few waves in until 8:15pm if there isn't much fog. Heck- that's almost 15 hours of surfing time.) So with that being said, here are five facts to know about the first day of summer.
When does the summer solstice begin, exactly?
In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice begins at 6:51 a.m. EDT on June 21, according to Almanac.com, officially ringing in summer. The date brings the year’s longest stretch of daylight. Though the hours of sunlight depend on location, many areas will see up to 16 hours’ worth of light on Saturday.
Why does the solstice occur?
The word solstice is from the Latin solstitium from sol (sun) and stitium (to stop), because it appears the sun stops at the solstice. The solstice happens twice annually due to the Earth’s axis of rotation. Depending on the calendar year, the summer solstice happens annually in December for the Southern Hemisphere and on June 20 or 21 in the northern half of the world. For science aficionados, the summer solstice occurs precisely when the Earth's axial tilt is most inclined toward the sun, at the degree of 23° 26', its most extreme. In June, the tilt is toward the sun in the Northern Hemisphere, while the second yearly solstice, the winter solstice, in December, the tilt is away from the sun in the Southern Hemisphere.
How is the solstice celebrated?
The solstice marks the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and that means flip-flops, beach trips and barbecues. In southern England, thousands flock to Stonehenge to see the sun rise from the vantage point of the 4,000-year-old solar monument. The summer solstice is also a time of celebration for Christians and Pagans. In Christianity, the first day of summer marks the festival of St. John the Baptist, and in Paganism followers celebrate what they call "midsummer" with bonfires and feasts.
Is it the longest day of the year?
The summer solstice has the longest hours of daylight for the Northern Hemisphere. The sun, which usually rises directly in the east, rises north of east and sets north of west. This means the sun is in the sky for a longer period of time, yielding more daylight.
Why do the warmest days of summer generally come long after the solstice?
It takes a month or two for some geographic areas to see their warmest days simply because it takes the Earth time to warm up. In fact, solstices do not mark the start of winter or summer at all; they are actually the midpoint of each season. Almanac.com calls this phenomenon, when the land and oceans release stored heat back into the atmosphere much later than the first day of summer, the “seasonal temperature lag."
So there you have it. Enjoy the summer solstice this weekend before everything gets turned upside down by El Nino this winter.
PIC OF THE WEEK:
If I was a surf explorer (great work if you can find it), I'd want to stumble upon this place. Not too big but plenty of size to get your game on. Tropical weather of course. Nothing but trunks. And some little shack on the point where you could crash at night. Sure you'd have to hunt for your own food and fend off the natives- but heck- I do that every night at home with the family!
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
Out of This World
Filling in for Jozy
2008 'BK Man-Turns' Award Winner
