THE Surf Report- Early Edition

'When It Rains It Pours' part II

SURF:
Wet, windy, and woolly. Whatever you call it, we're getting drenched.

Surf was small the past couple days and as it picked up slightly today, the chocolate brown water and S winds kicked in. Got some peaking shoulder high sets tonight but dirty water unfortunately. As the storm exits the region tomorrow, the surf goes with it. Look for chest high sets tomorrow, waist high on Saturday, and flat on Sunday. At least the weather will be nice.

Water temps are low 60's due to the all the storm activity lately and tides the next few days are around 6' at breakfast and down to -1' late afternoon. 

FORECAST:
Looks like the storm track is going to start retreating N next week and as it does, we'll get more northerly swells and less rain.

First up is a storm that should move through the Pacific NW on Monday and we'll just get the tail end down here late Monday/early Tuesday. As it moves through, look for a pick up from the NW late Monday with shoulder high sets and a little bit of SW wind again. High pressure should set up behind that for clean conditions and a couple more swells on it's heels- a chest high NW next Friday and a chest high+ WNW around Monday the 17th. Nothing big but clean and fun.

WEATHER:

Another solid storm the past few days brought OC beaches a whopping 3-4" of rain, Oceanside 2", and over an inch in Encinitas. We should have a couple more showers tonight but expect sunny skies tomorrow. Nice cool sunny weather is setting up for the weekend then a weak cold front arrives late Monday. We may get a 1/4" out of it which is a drop in the bucket compared to our last 2 storms. For the 2nd half of next week, high pressure sets up and we'll have typical beautiful Southern California weather- for December no less. Make sure to keep track of the waves and weather at Twitter/North County Surf. 

BEST BET:
Most likely next Friday the 14th and Monday the 17th as our storms should be gone and we're back to sunny skies and cleaner water!

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

Just a quick refresher course from NOAA on waves and tides since we've had an active pattern out there lately and big 7' tide swings this weekend.

The ocean is never still. Whether observing from the beach or a boat, we expect to see waves on the horizon. Waves are created by energy passing through water, causing it to move in a circular motion. However, water does not actually travel in waves. Waves transmit energy, not water, across the ocean and if not obstructed by anything, they have the potential to travel across an entire ocean basin.

Waves are most commonly caused by wind. Wind-driven waves, or surface waves, are created by the friction between wind and surface water. As wind blows across the surface of the ocean or a lake, the continual disturbance creates a wave crest. These types of waves are found globally across the open ocean and along the coast.

More potentially hazardous waves can be caused by severe weather, like a hurricane. The strong winds and pressure from this type of severe storm causes storm surge, a series of long waves that are created far from shore in deeper water and intensify as they move closer to land. Other hazardous waves can be caused by underwater disturbances that displace large amounts of water quickly such as earthquakes, landslides, or volcanic eruptions. These very long waves are called tsunamis. Storm surge and tsunamis are not the types of waves you imagine crashing down on the shore. These waves roll upon the shore like a massive sea level rise and can reach far distances inland.

The gravitational pull of the sun and moon on the earth also causes waves. These waves are tides or, in other words, tidal waves. It is a common misconception that a tidal wave is also a tsunami. The cause of tsunamis are not related to tide information at all but can occur in any tidal state.

While some places have one high tide and one low tide per day, most coastal locations have two high tides and two low tides a day. These highs and lows typically aren't equal. This is why, in most places, using the phrase "high tide" might be unclear. There's actually high tide and higher high tide (and low and lower low tide).

If the Earth were a perfect sphere without large continents, and if the earth-moon-sun system were in perfect alignment, every place would get two equal high and low tides every day. However, the alignment of the moon and sun relative to Earth, the presence of the continents, regional geography, and features on the seafloor, among other factors, make tidal patterns more complex.

Around the world, there are three basic tidal patterns: semidiurnal, mixed, and diurnal. When both high tides are about equal to each other, and the low tides are also roughly equal, the pattern is called a semidiurnal tide. If the two highs and lows differ substantially, the pattern is called a mixed tide. Where there's only one high and one low tide a day, it's called a diurnal tide. One location can experience different tide patterns throughout the month.

PIC OF THE WEEK:

Sure there's a few cars in the parking lot and a bunch of guys in the line-up, but can you blame them?

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn
Trailblazer
Thinking of Trying Out For The XFL
Got Tubed, Barreled, Pitted, Kegged, Shacked, and Piped All In One Session