THE Surf Report

Getting into the swing of things.

SURF:

Had some fun surf earlier in the week- along with some wild tropical weather. We're back in the swing of things today with normal weather and building SW swell with chest high sets.

For the holiday, look for chest high waves+ with best SW spots hitting shoulder high on the sets. Not the most firing weekend, but just enough to celebrate the 4th in style. And now that June Gloom is gone and the NW wind has turned to SW, water temps have creeped up to the low 70's.

Tides the next few days are -1' at sunrise, up to 4' at noon, down to 2' late afternoon, and up to 5' at sunrise.

FORECAST:

After a fun weekend of surf, we get better surf arriving from that storm off Indo you heard about last week. Look for shoulder high sets on Tuesday evening, building to overhead sets by Wednesday evening. The swell finally peters out by Friday.

After that, it's looking pretty flat with no good storms on the charts. Hopefully the tropics kick into gear with another hurricane- we're due! The last storm we had off Baja was over 2 weeks ago. After a great start, it's looked pretty weak lately.

There's two sets of clouds down there today but they're already 1/2 way to Hawaii so I think it's too late to get any surf from them- if they ever plan to materialize. Make sure to keep up to date on the surf by visiting North County Surf on Twitter at Twitter/North County Surf! 

WEATHER:

The 2 months of May Gray/June Gloom is over and the early summer tropical 'monsoon' weather has come to an end. We're getting into the swing of things again this weekend. Look for low clouds/fog to increase in the night/mornings this weekend into next week and cool sunshine at the coast most of next week. With no high pressure in place though, the clouds may have a hard time completely burning off at the coast. Pretty normal around here.

BEST BET:
Mid-week with a new solid SW swell arriving on our shores.

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

And the rainy season is officially over which ran from July 1st, 2014 to June 30th, 2015. And you already know it was dry. How dry? The L.A. Times reported this week that the last four years have been the driest such period in downtown Los Angeles in almost 138 years, per National Weather Service data. Downtown L.A. received only 8.52 inches of rain this season, or 57% of average. When combined with data from the previous seasons starting in July 2011, they found that downtown L.A. received 29.14 inches of rain, or more than 30 inches short of where it should have been (in comparison- a solid El Nino could bring 20 inches of rain). The previous driest four-year stretch was from 1947 to 1951, when 34.02 inches of rain fell. Downtown’s parched landscape mirrors the broader, historic drought that has wreaked havoc on California this decade. Forests and hillsides across the state are parched and brittle and ready to go up in flames, and farmers in Central California are dealing with water restrictions and suffering crops. Even in some areas in the northern part of the state, where heavy rainfall still occurs, totals are below historic averages, and wildfires can sweep across the landscape and overwhelm firefighters. Many are placing their hopes in a potential El Niño this winter, which experts say is strengthening and could put a dent in the state’s drought. It would be a welcome relief. The weather service’s data show that for the first time since record-keeping began in 1877, less than 10 inches of rain fell in downtown Los Angeles for four consecutive rainy seasons. To add fuel to the fire, literally, four of the seven driest seasons in downtown L.A. have come since 2001; this season was also the eighth time since 2001 that downtown saw less than 10 inches of rain, the weather service reported. For the record, the driest single season was from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, when only 3.21 inches of rain fell downtown. And you think the Lakers are in a drought right now. Sheesh!

So what was OC and SD like this past season? Not much better. Newport Beach received 6.85 inches, just 53% of normal, Oceanside received 7.40 inches, just 56% or normal, and downtown San Diego had a couple random downpours this past winter that skewed their numbers to 8.96 inches of rain, 88% of normal. Long story short, we desperately need a good 20 inches of rain this winter from the strengthening El Nino before we can even think about turning on our sprinklers again.

PIC OF THE WEEK:

One of the countless photos coming from that mega swell in Indo last week. I would have been so on it if I hadn't had buckled my Wavestorm recently. Next time.

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn
Champ
Uncle Sam's Favorite Nephew
Starting the WBL- World Barrel League. Only Curren and Lopez Apply