Not exactly what I asked Santa for Christmas, but I'll take it.
SURF:
Great week for surf. Again. Solid NW swell with offshore winds on Tuesday was replaced by more NW swell on Thursday and sunny skies. That NW peaked earlier yesterday but we have more coming. This morning has chest high+ sets then Saturday and Sunday looks pretty small but conditions are clean.
Late Sunday starts to build slightly with chest high NW towards San Diego BUT... we've got more wet weather headed our way late in the day. Basically this morning is the call. Water temps are still high 50's and here's what going on with the tides and sun this weekend:
- Sunrise and sunset are an equal 10 hours of sun this weekend:
- 6:46 AM
- 4:46 PM
- And tides are pretty straightforward this weekend:
- 5' at sunrise
- 0' at lunch
- 3' at sunset
FORECAST:
If you like rolling the dice when it comes to your surf sessions, then next week is for you.
The building NW on Sunday gets a little bump on Monday for chest high sets then building more on Tuesday for head high+ surf. But that's accompanied by wind and rain. Xmas morning looks small (but who cares, you'll be eating fruitcake anyway), and then we get overhead stormy NW late Wednesday into Thursday. That is joined by, you guessed it, potentially more wind & rain!
Further out, models show more head high+ NW arriving next weekend. And who knows- maybe more wind & rain if we're unlucky! Just make sure to have a flexible schedule over the holidays and you should be able to get some surf between the squalls. Make sure to check out Twitter/North County Surf if anything changes between now and then. Which it will of course.
BEST BET:
Tough call since there's plenty of surf coming but also wet weather. If you can find a sliver of calm winds, then maybe Monday/Tuesday or Thursday/Friday.
WEATHER:
No reason to read this section since I already spilled the beans above. But if you're a bookworm, then here goes: Nice weather is on tap for today into Saturday before the storm track finally lowers to Southern California again late on Sunday. Looks like showers will occur by evening and continue through Monday. Christmas morning should be clear and cool before our next storm arrives late Christmas night. After that it's anyone's guess. None of these storms look to be big but it will benefit our rainy season. Rainfall totals for the week should be around 1 1/2".
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
Moreover, both the season (September through November) and the year to date (January through November) were each the second hottest in recorded history, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
The exceptional heat also was felt at both ends of the world: Sea ice coverage across the Arctic and Antarctic oceans fell to near-record lows in November.
Here’s more from NOAA’s latest monthly global climate report:
The average global land and ocean surface temperature for November 2019 was 1.66 degrees F (0.92 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average and the second-highest November temperature on record, just shy of November of 2015. In fact, the world’s five hottest Novembers have all occurred since 2013.
The average global sea surface temperature in November was 1.39 degrees F (0.77 of a degree C) above average — the second-highest temperature for November on record, behind November 2015.
The year-to-date global land and ocean surface temperature was 1.69 degrees F (0.94 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average, which made it the second-warmest period of January through November in the 140-year record — just behind the same period in 2016.
The season (autumn or spring, depending on the hemisphere) saw an average global land and ocean temperature 1.69 degrees F (0.94 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average of 57.1 degrees F (14 degrees C). It was the second-hottest September-through-November period on record behind 2015.
More notable climate events from this report:
Sea-ice coverage shrank to its second-lowest size on record for November in both the Arctic and Antarctic behind that observed in November 2016. Arctic sea ice coverage was 12.8 percent below the 1981–2010 average, while the Antarctic coverage was 6.35 percent below average.
Continents and island regions sweated it out: It was the hottest November on record for South America, Africa and the Hawaiian Islands. The Caribbean had its second-hottest November, and Europe had its seventh-hottest on record.
Warming of the ocean continued: The world’s average sea surface temperature ranked second warmest for the year to date — just 0.05 of a degree F (0.03 of a degree C) cooler than the record-breaking year of 2016.
PIC OF THE WEEK:
I know surfing in and around the Arctic Circle is all the rage right now but besides the cold water and ice cream headaches, there's a million other problems. Instead of Great Whites, you have Orcas hunting you down. Or bears ripping through your lunch on the beach, And the occasional iceberg in your way. Did I mention surfing in a 6/5/4 with 5 mil booties, a hood, and gloves are mandatory? Not for me. Bring on global warming! (Just kidding). And for more pics of the Great White North, check out Daniel Russo's work here.
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
I've Been Really Good This Year
Tired Of Being Mentioned In The Tabloids
Own The Dubious Record Of 128 Interferences On The World Surf League
