THE Surf Report- Early Edition

So close to summer I can taste it. 

SURF:

Hope you got some fun waves this week. 

Nothing big but a little SW groundswell, a little NW windswell, water in the high 60's, afternoon sunshine, and typical afternoon sea breezes felt like a precursor to summer. 

Not the biggest this weekend but plenty fun as we have a new SW filling in tomorrow for chest high+ sets.. Clouds should be slow to burn off Friday/Saturday and a little more sun for the beaches by Sunday. As far as the sun/water temps/tides go, here's what you need to know:

• Sunrise and sunset on the summer solstice (June 20th) are:
• 5:40 AM sunrise  
• 8:00 PM sunset 
• And on June 21st, the days will start getting shorter until December 20th!

• Water temps are holding in the high 60's which is average for this time of the year (El Nino, where art thou?)

• And we have a little bit of everything in regards to tides this weekend:
• 0' at sunrise
• 3.5' mid-morning
• 2' mid-afternoon
• 6' at sunset

FORECAST:

And just on cue for the 1st week of summer, we've got more sun and waves headed our way. 

First up is a new SW swell that will fill in on Monday and peak Tuesday/Wednesday for chest high surf and shoulder high+ sets at the better SW swell spots. We also have high pressure building slightly for next week that should result in more sun at the beaches. 

After the SW starts to back off late next week, models this weekend show a solid SW taking shape which should give us head high+ surf around the 28th-30th. And hopefully our water temps will be over 70 degrees by then. And I know I've said it a million times- even though the surf hasn't been particularly big this spring, it sure is nice to have rideable waves at least. Sure hope we're done with small surf, red tides, and beach closures! 

BEST BET:

Not the biggest this weekend but by Tuesday it should be better with shoulder high sets from the SW and great weather. And if you can wait that long- late next weekend with bigger SW...

WEATHER:

June Gloom the first 2 weeks of the month haven't been that bad (knock on wood). Some days have been slow to clear at the coast but the sun eventually has come out. That holds true for the weekend before slight high pressure starts to take hold early in the week. Look for the sun to come out a little earlier each day and temps to move slightly up to the low 70's. And if that's not warm enough for you, head to Death Valley on Monday where the high should hit 120 and a downright chilly 90 degrees at night. Now that's one place where they could use a wave pool. Make sure to check out Twitter/North County Surf if anything changes between now and then.

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

With Death Valley forecasted to hit 120 next week, I thought it would be interesting to discuss the Rain Shadow effect. Luckily for us in California, we have one of the best examples of that in the world- Mt. Whitney and Death Valley. So how does it occur? A rain shadow is a dry area on the leeward side of a mountainous area (away from the wind). The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems and cast a "shadow" of dryness behind them. Wind and moist air are drawn by the prevailing winds towards the top of the mountains, where it condenses and precipitates (fog/rain/snow, etc.) before it crosses the top. The air, without much moisture left, advances across the mountains creating a drier side called the "rain shadow". The condition exists because warm moist air rises by orographic lifting to the top of a mountain range (i.e. it gets pushed to the top by wind). As atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing altitude, the air has expanded and cooled to the point that the air reaches its dew point. Moisture then condenses onto the mountain and it precipitates on the top and windward sides of the mountain. The air will then descend on the leeward side, but has lost much of its moisture by that point. Typically, descending air also gets warmer because of compression down the leeward side of the mountain, which increases the amount of moisture that it can absorb and creates an arid region- hence a dry hot desert. 

So back to Mt. Whitney and Death Valley. As the moist Pacific winds come off the ocean and are forced upwards due to the wall knowns as Mt. Whitney, the result is fog/rain/snow on the west side of the mountain range. After the winds have lost most of their moisture, they come down the other side of Whitney and compress, resulting in warmer air. The result is a hot dry desert on the other side- aptly named Death Valley. For comparison's sake:

• Mt. Whitney and Death Valley are 100 miles apart. About the same as Encinitas and Los Angeles.
• Mt. Whitney gets roughly 42" of precipitation a year while Death Valley... a paltry 2.5"
• Mt. Whitney's low temperature tonight- close to freezing at 33 degrees. And Death Valley? Hot enough to fry an egg on the road at 113. That's a whopping 80 degree difference between the 2 locations. Imagine if Encinitas was 33 tonight and by tomorrow afternoon LA was 113?! Absurd. 
• And in case you're wondering- the other side of Mt. Everest is the famed Gobi Desert, the Andes in South America helped create the Atacama Desert, and the Sahara lies on the leeward side of the Atlas Mountains. 

And on a side note, if you're looking to stretch your legs and social distance this summer, head up the 395 on the eastern side of the Sierras and check out Mt. Whitney and Death Valley. Amazing scenery up there and a quick 3 hour drive. Just make sure you bring a heavy jacket and a tank top! 

PIC OF THE WEEK:

I swear it wouldn't surprise me if Ricardo Montalbán walked out of this jungle and said "Welcome, to Fantasy Island"...

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn

Hearty

2012 American Ninja Warrior  

Snaked Fanning At Snapper So Now The Cops Consider Me A Superbank Robber