THE Surf Report- Early Edition

Don't give up just yet! 

SURF:

Been quite interesting the past few months around here. Lack of consistent swells, beach closures, water temps running anywhere from 60-75, red tide, and overcast conditions- I'm ready to jump right into fall! Who's with me?! 

As you know by now, it's been small around here since the July 4th swell (man that seems like ages ago- ahh, the good ol' days). That's 3 1/2 weeks of groveling. While the rest of the world has seen firing surf, we've been the sacrificial lamb unfortunately. Things have to turn around, right? Right. First things first though- no real swell activity this past week will result in small surf again this weekend- and cold water. 

We have a small waist high combo swell on tap for Friday afternoon through Sunday. As far as the sun/water temps/tides go, here's what you need to know:

• Sunrise and sunset:
• 6:03 AM sunrise  
• 7:46 PM sunset

• Water temps might be the coldest I've ever felt for July. Normally we get an early season warm up in late May/early June, then the NW wind blows, and temps plummet to the low 60's mid-June, then it rebounds by July and we're set for the rest of the summer. THIS summer? Not so fast- we've had 2 periods of NW winds resulting in water temps around 60 earlier this month and of course this week. Thanks for nuthin' La Nina! 

• And the tides are up and down this weekend (unlike the surf which is just... down)
• 1' at sunrise
• 4' at breakfast
• 2' after lunch
• 6' at sunset

FORECAST:

Still nothing of significance in the near term but we do get a little waist high+ boost from the NW/SW again on Wednesday (maybe a foot bigger than this weekend)? 

After that, charts FINALLY show some life with a moderate storm forming off South America late this weekend which would give us chest high+ surf around the 11th. 

THEN... models show a solid storm taking shape around the 6th which would give us head high sets around the 14th. Models that far out haven't been too accurate lately, so take it with a grain of salt. At least it's worth watching. Make

BEST BET:

Let's be honest- let's just wait until the 11th and hope for the best on the 14th. 

WEATHER:

Hot inland this weekend (and near 125 again in Death Valley) but cool at the coast with patchy fog. The persistent NW winds lately are responsible for:

• our dropping water temps to the low 60's
• increase in NW windswell the next few days (better than no surf)
• cool temps along the coast while inland it bakes

This scenario should last through the weekend before we get back to more mild weather across Southern California by mid-week. Still no thunderstorms in the mountains and deserts (and no hurricanes either). 

 

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

You've probably noticed the following this summer:

• cold water temps
• persistent clouds along the coast
• cool air temps
• lack of hurricanes

So what gives? Could it be the return of La Nina? I hope not. Here's the LA Times to shed some light:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a La Niña watch earlier this month, meaning that conditions are favorable for development of a La Niña in the next six months. A La Niña typically means a dry winter across the southern United States, including Southern California. La Niña is part of a climate phenomenon called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, often referred to as “ENSO.” It has nothing to do with the Ensos or their icy planet Ensolica in Star Wars, but La Niña is the cool phase of this climate phenomenon, and the opposite of its warm sibling, El Niño.

In summary, here in Southern California we might expect this fall/winter to have:

• increased wildfire danger
• less rain
• smaller surf
• more sun
• cooler air temps
• cooler ocean temps

Hope not (except for that 'more sun' part).

PIC OF THE WEEK:

Morocco means 'Place where the sun sets'. But I see the sun set at Beacons all the time and I've NEVER seen surf like that down there. Maybe I translated it wrong or something. 

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn

Impresario

Starting My Own Ecommerce Site Called Amababa (Or Should I Call It Alizon)?

Shovel Hit The Dirt Today On My Wavepool So I Never Have To Worry About La Nina Again

THE Surf Report- Early Edition

Beautiful weather we're having...

SURF:

Just making small talk here. Kind of hard to do a surf report when there's no surf. But fear not! That's why God invented the Wavestorm at the Church of Costco. 

We had a little bump from the SW/NW on Tuesday for waist high+ surf and chest high sets at the best spots- but that was about it. Our Pacific storm drought (nothing in the Aleutians, nothing off Antarctica, and nothing off Baja) has resulted in small surf across the board. Thrown in 5 days of NW wind last week, and our water temps dropped 15 degrees too (that must be a record). Del Mar last Thursday had a sea surface temperature of 75 degrees and by Monday it had dropped to 60. Holy cow. 

For this weekend, we mainly have NW windswell and just a touch of new small SW late Sunday for waist high surf again. As far as the sun/water temps/tides go, here's what you need to know:

• Sunrise and sunset:
• 5:58 AM sunrise  
• 7:52 PM sunset

• Winds have stopped blowing from the NW thankfully and the upwelling has stopped. SW winds are in charge and is pooling warm water into the Southern California bight. What does that all mean? Our water temps are back to 65-67. Hopefully we'll hit 70 again by Sunday. 

• And the tides are a roller coaster this weekend:
• 1' at sunrise
• 0.5' at breakfast
• 4.5' after lunch
• 2' at sunrise

FORECAST:

Still nothing of significance on the horizon but we do have a slight rise in the NW windswell Monday/Tuesday (I just copied that from last week). Hoping to see ALMOST chest high sets at best spots. (Yippee)! 

After that, forecast charts show a small storm forming this weekend which may give us chest high sets again towards the 31st. And if you're keeping score at home, models don't show anything of significance through at least the 1st week of August. That means, after our July 4th swell, we will not have seen a wave over chest high for a month! But hey- who's counting. Make sure to check out Twitter/North County Surf if anything changes between now and then.

BEST BET:

Monday/Tuesday with a little NW/SW windswell? Or next weekend with a little SW groundswell? Hello? Anyone? (I stole that from last week's report). 

WEATHER:

Very weak low pressure this weekend will result in cooler conditions and partly sunny skies and temps in the low 70's. Weak high pressure starts to set up early next week for more sun and temps in the mid-70's. Monsoon moisture should make an appearance (finally) in the mountains and deserts by next weekend. And that's all she wrote! 

 

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

I'm not one for conspiracy theories (except for that whole aliens at Area 51 thing- that's real) but there is a belief I have that I'm going to share with you. Whether you like it or not, I'm right- so deal with it. Here goes: There is no such thing as a bad surfboard. There- I said it. Now I know you're going to say "WHAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY? I can prove to you that I've had bad surfboards over the years that don't work!!!" My reply: They didn't work for YOU. It's funny how people see me out in the water and ask 'How do you like that board'? Or, 'I see you've been riding so and so's surfboards- how do you like them'? The answer I give them should be taken with a grain of salt. Sure it's easy to say 'Best board I've ever had- you should get one!' Or 'Brand X surfboards are insane!' But then that person goes out, buys one, and says "This board SUCKS! What's Glenn talking about?!" My reason that 'every board is good' is that there are a million variables to how a board rides and how YOU surf. Expressions like 'Oh that thing wants to dig a rail' or 'It has no drive' are moot points based on the facts that maybe the board was ridden in the wrong type of waves or it wasn't built for your surfing ability or body type. I've had brand new boards that I couldn't get to 'work', swapped out the fins, and it turned out to be one of the best boards I've ever ridden. Let's look at the variables as to why boards are considered 'dogs' or 'amazing':

• Fins:
• Fins with more rake (i.e. they look like long hair in the wind) tend to hold better through caves and not release unless you push hard on your turns.
• Fins that are more upright on the other hand tend to pivot quicker and not do a long sweeping carve like fins with rake. 
• Then throw in fin size- bigger fins hold better in big surf (or big surfers) and smaller fins slide out (based on your weight and strength)
• And don't get me started on how many fins you may have attached on the bottom of your board. Single fins are cruisy and that's about it. Twin fins let you do quicker directional changes but slide out. Tri fins are the holy grail (thank you Simon) with the perfect blend of holding power and release, while Quads give you a lot of drive but tend to squirt at the apex of a turn.

• Wide point:
• This is something I just started paying attention to a couple years ago (36 years too late). Basically surfers are broken up into 3 types of stances: narrow, medium, and wide. Someone like Rob Machado and Filipe Toledo have narrow stances (quick turns and light on their feet). Someone with a medium stance would be Kelly Slater or Julian Wilson. And a wide stance? Adriano De Souza or Dane Reynolds (stable, powerful). Why does that matter in a board? I used to think the wide point was always halfway between the nose and tail (so on a 6' 0" board, the wide point would be 3' 0" from the top of the nose and bottom- right in the middle). But if you have a narrow stance, you want your 'sweet spot' to be little back towards the tail. And a wide stance? Pushed a little further from the center of the board towards the nose. I've got a wider stance (some people call me the American Mikey Wright. Just kidding), and I've had some boards over the years with the wide point a little more towards the tail. Big mistake. I'd have to narrow my stance to get the board to work which is a problem when you're flying down the line on an 8' wave over shallow reef. The last thing I want to think about is 'Are my feet in the right spot right now? Oops, just ate crap'. Some board manufacturers will list this for each model. I pay attention now. 

• Rocker
• Basically the bottom outline of your board can be curved from nose to tail or it can be flat. Curved boards work well in waves with a pocket but they tend to plow water and may slow the board down. Doesn't matter though if you're surfing a powerful wave. Kelly and Shane Herring's 'banana rocker' boards from the 90's worked great in hollow beach breaks and fit into the pocket really well- but normal days? Not so much. Flatter rocker on the other hand planes over the water surface much more efficiently and helps you get over those dead spots on smaller weaker waves. You may have seen Slater's new small wave surfboard called the No Brainer? Flat as a piece of plywood. Not really, but it may be the flattest board on the market. Great for those small gutless summer days- like this weekend! THEN, factor in slight rocker on the nose or slight rocker in the tail, and the board does all kinds of weird things. 

• Length
• Small wave grovelers vs. longboards. Basically one turns like a skateboard, the other feels like a Princess Cruise Line (without the legionnaires' disease). If you're looking to surf like Filipe at 2' Salt Creek, ride the groveler. If you want to surf like Joel Tudor at 2' Cardiff, pull out the 10' Skip Frye. 

• Bottom contours:
• There have been all kinds of mad scientists over the years toying and tweaking with the bottom of surfboards. From Phil Byrne's deep six channel bottoms, to Mark Foos dimples (think Titleist Pro V1 golf balls), to Al Merrick's tri plane hulls, to Bob McTavish's vee bottoms (like the hull on a boat), or Maurice Cole's 'reverse vee', to whatever George Greenough concocted: the flow of water underneath your surfboard and how it affects your speed, turns, etc. is just another variable if a board will work for you or not. 

• Tails:
• One of the more unique aspects of a board. Tails that are pulled in (pin tails) make boards tend to hold their line- which is good in solid surf. Rounded pins loosen the board up slightly and are great for carving. Squash tails- a little looser and user friendly. Square tails- pretty squirrely. And swallow tails? Various theories on that one. Some say it acts like two pin tails and holds through your turns. I say it's actually loose because there's less area off the tail and I can do tight turns off each pivot point. Who's right? The board of course. Doesn't matter what people tell you, if the board/tail work for you, then it works. 

• Thickness/Volume:
• Let's look at two surfboards with identical measurements: 5'10" L x 19" W x 2 1/2" H. One has 26 liters of volume, the other has 30. How can that be based on the same L x W x H? It all comes down to how the rails are shaped. For exaggeration purposes, if you took a cross section of each board and looked at them from the tail, you'd see the one with 26 liters has more of a triangular shape while the 30 liters has more of a rectangular shape. Both are 19" W and both are 2 1/2" H at their midpoint- but the 26 liters has more foam shaved off towards the upper left and right hand edges, resulting in a more triangular shape. This 'knifey' look and feel to the rails will cut through the water more but may not be as forgiving as the 30 liter board (and won't paddle/float as well). 

• Overall shape:
• Does the board have a little more foam towards the nose to help you paddle? Is the tail pulled in slightly on your shortboard (or even have a bump or stinger) to make it turn quicker? Is the tail wider to generate speed? Does the board have a straight rail line to hold your turns or is it curvey to turn on a dime in France? What does this all mean?!

• Construction:
• The Polyurethane (PU) or Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam debate has been going on for decades. PU is your standard shortboard foam since the 60's and EPS came to prominence in the 80's on the East Coast due to it's buoyancy and lightness (good for small days at Sebastian). Basically the bigger/choppier it gets, stay off EPS. And of course there's various types of wood in longboards, algae foam, etc. And epoxy resins... Anyway, here's another new one to add to the mix: Tom Curren back in the late 90's experimented with an old board of his and dug out the back half of the deck. He then put in bodyboard type foam with the hope the board would flex and give it a 'springy' type response off his bottom turns. Did it work? Only Curren knows. Now, his protégé, Kelly Slater, is on the flex train and various models of his Slater designs come with boards with flexible stringers (a.k.a. Linear Flex Technology). I've ridden a few of these boards and you can actually feel them flex. You'll go into a bottom turn, board compresses, the flex kicks in, and shoots you into your off the lip, carve, etc. I notice though they don't like choppy days though as the flex tends to make the board vibrate and seem lifeless. I've also ridden Channel Island's Spinetek technology and didn't notice it flex as much as LFT. Just my two cents...

• Surfing Ability/Fitness:
• And lastly, one of the reasons that new board may not make you surf like John John? You're not Jonh John. Sure you may have been surfing longer, you're reasonably fit, and you can do an air from time to time, but he's got that 'it' factor which resulted in 2 world titles and 0 for you (no offense). He, along with PT, Rabbit, Shaun, MR, TC (Carroll that is), TC (Curren that is), Damien, Barton, Pottz, Kelly, Derek (RIP), Occy, Sunny, Ceej, AI (RIP), Mick, Parko, Gabe, Adriano, and Italo have some freakish ability they were born with to turn a 2.0 wave into a 9.8. So even though their 'pro models' look insane, you may never be able to do an alley oop at 8' North Point on it. 

So there you have it. The gospel according to Michael: Every surfboard is a good surfboard. Maybe that small wave board you can't get to work just needs another foot of swell. Or more of a pocket. Or less wind chop. Or someone else to ride it. In the immortal words of Oscar the Grouch: One man's trash is another man's treasure. 

PIC OF THE WEEK:

Welcome to the game show called "WHERE! WOULD! YOU! RATHER! BE!" First question is today's Pic of the Week. What coast will be on fire next month as the hurricane season looks to be ABOVE average? If you guessed the East Coast, give yourself a point! Next question: Where has it been ALL TIME this past month? Trick question- there are TWO correct answers: Indo AND Australia! Next question: Where's it going to be BIG on Sunday (but under a hurricane watch)? The correct answer... Hawaii! And the bonus question for all the money... Where would you rather NOT be this weekend?... If you guessed California, YOU WIN A LIFETIME SUPPLY OF CUP O' NOODLES! Thanks for playing! Make sure to tune in next week!

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn

Prophet

Don't Know If I Should Pursue Being A Lobbyist Or A Hobbyist

Been Surfing 36 Years And I Still Have A Lot To Learn

The Surf Report- Early Edition

The Emergency Boardriding System is down for maintenance. 

SURF:

Doesn't the July 4th swell seem like 12 months ago? Actually, it was only 12 days. 

No swells in the Pacific = no swells for California the past week. Great weather and warm water takes the sting off a little bit. 

For the weekend, we've got micro SW swell along with building SMALL NW windswell for maybe chest high sets at the best combo spots by Sunday afternoon. For everyone else, waist high. Did I mention at least the sun is out and the water is 72? As far as the sun/water temps/tides go, here's what you need to know:

• Sunrise and sunset:
• 5:53 AM sunrise  
• 7:57 PM sunset

• With the lack of a strong NW wind and plenty of sun, some water temps in SD are hitting the high to mid 70's...

• And the tides are a roller coaster this weekend:
• 1' at sunrise
• 3.5' at breakfast
• 2' early afternoon
• 6' at sunset

FORECAST:

Still nothing of significance on the horizon but we do have a slight rise in the NW windswell Monday/Tuesday. Most beaches should have chest high sets (yahoo)! 

After that, forecast charts show a small storm forming this weekend which may give us chest high sets again towards the 25th. Models also show a little activity off Baja this weekend but when I say little, I mean barely a tropical storm AND it's forecasted to head to Hawaii. So write that off. Make sure to check out Twitter/North County Surf if anything changes between now and then.

BEST BET:

Tuesday with a little NW windswell? Or next weekend with a little SW groundswell? Hello? Anyone?

WEATHER:

Slight warm up is on tap this weekend with the clouds burning off earlier each day, plenty of sun, and air temps in the mid to high 70's. Just what I was hoping for. Then we get a slight cooling trend by mid-week with temps back to the low to mid 70's at the beaches and a little more low clouds/fog. Models also show a slight chance of thunderstorms over the mountains/deserts later in the week so head out there if you're looking for a little excitement. 

 

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

Hot enough for you at the beach recently? 80 degrees on the coast feel a little toasty at night? What would you say then if it was a lot warmer- like almost 50 degrees warmer? Doesn't seem real, does it? Well it is, just 300 miles from us. Welcome to Death Valley, CA! The high temp earlier this week hit an astounding 128 degrees. Now you know why they call it Death Valley. Here's what CBS news had to say:

The official weather observing station in Death Valley, California — called Furnace Creek for obvious reasons — reached a scorching 128 degrees Fahrenheit last Sunday. That is the hottest temperature anywhere on the planet since 2017 and only one degree behind what experts say is likely the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth. This is just one small part of a brutal heat wave that baked the deep Southwest and lower Plains states last weekend before expanding eastward and northward this week. Dozens of records were set over the weekend and dozens more are on the way this week. Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories cover 50 million Americans in an area stretching 1,700 miles from the deserts of Southern California to the beaches of Panama City, Florida. Temperatures topped out over 120 in the deserts of California and Arizona, and near 110 in west Texas. Heat index numbers, which factor in humidity, will reach an oppressive 115 near Dallas and east to coastal Louisiana. 

As the extreme heat settled in over the weekend various records were set. The most impressive was 128 degrees in Death Valley, California, on Sunday. Though this is the hottest temperature recorded on Earth in the past three years, it did not quite break an all-time record.  Extreme weather experts say it is just one degree short of the "real" highest temperature ever recorded on Earth — 129.2 degrees Fahrenheit, also in Death Valley, in 2013. The word "real" is used because the world's hottest temperature is disputed within the meteorological community.  Officially the world record is 134 degrees Fahrenheit, set back in 1913 in Death Valley. But a thorough analysis by weather historian Christopher Burt in 2016 makes a compelling and generally accepted claim that the 1913 record is "essentially not possible from a meteorological perspective." Instead he concludes it was likely an observer error.

While there are various reasons the 1913 record is now believed to be an error, the most compelling is how different the observation was to other observing sites in the general area. Because of the unique landscape and meteorology, the daily readings from the various observing sites in that area of the desert Southwest are almost always in lockstep with each other. But during that week in 1913, while other sites were around 8 degrees above normal, the Death Valley readings were 18 degrees above normal.  As a result, most extreme weather experts conclude the "real" hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth is 129.2 degrees in 2013, for which there is photographic evidence.

Along with Sunday's Death Valley reading, there were many other daily records broken, as well as one all-time record set of 116 degrees at Borger, Texas, in the panhandle near Amarillo. Other notable daily records include 121 degrees in Palm Springs, California; 116 in Phoenix, Arizona; 113 in Tucson, Arizona; 110 in Roswell, New Mexico; and 109 in Del Rio, Texas. Towns in Wyoming and Utah also hit record highs above 100 degrees. But perhaps the most impressive numbers were the heat index ("feels like") numbers which reached near 120 in Oklahoma and Louisiana. In New Orleans, the heat index in the middle of the night on Sunday was a sweltering 107 degrees. The lowest the temperature dropped to on Monday morning in Phoenix was a balmy 93 degrees. This is the sixth day in a row in which the low temperature was 90 degrees or warmer in Phoenix. The current record is 7 days in a row in 2012 — a record which is likely to be tied and broken in the coming days.

This intense heat is being caused by a near record-breaking mid-level heat dome centered across the southwestern United States. Over the weekend it reached levels which are rarely experienced. These mid-level heat domes cause sunny skies and dry, sinking air which warms the air column through compression, helping produce extraordinary heat. While heat waves of this magnitude are not unheard of in summer, climate experts expect them to become more common in the years ahead due to human-caused climate change. That's because as global temperature averages increase, simple statistics show that heat extremes increase at an even faster rate. This will likely lead to a large increase in heat wave days across much of the nation.

Dr. Renee McPherson, university director of the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, says, "Our own projections indicate an additional 10-40 days per year of 100-[degree] days by mid-century, and up to two months more of these extreme heat days each year by the end of the century, if we continue to increase our carbon emissions as we have in the past." In fact, in a middle-of-the-road carbon emissions scenario, which assumes some efforts to limit heat-trapping carbon in the atmosphere, the number of 100-degree days are expected to double, or even triple, in most areas by late this century.

PIC OF THE WEEK:

Not the biggest, but sure better than the weekend around here. Did I mention at least the sun is out and the water is 72?

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn

Senior Advisor

Glamping In My Backyard This Weekend

Brown, Browne, Greenough, MacGillivray/Freeman, Bystrom, McCoy, Miller, Steele, Campbell, Neville, Glenn

THE Surf Report- Late/Lite Edition

Short on time and not much to talk about. 

SURF:

Hello fellow surfers! Hope you surfed your brains out last weekend. Because as it stands now, it's looking small for the near future. 

Tropical Storm Cristina formed off Baja a few days ago, never hit hurricane status unfortunately, and then decided to move WNW away from us. What does that mean? Waist high surf for us on Sunday and maybe the odd chest high set in the OC. As far as the sun/water temps/tides go, here's what you need to know:

• Sunrise and sunset:
• 5:50 AM sunrise  
• 7:59 PM sunset (not even 8 PM anymore. Bummer!)

• A little heat wave, mid-July, and lack of strong NW winds have resulted in water temps in the low 70's (with Scripps hitting almost 76 today)!

• And the tides, like the surf, are pretty boring this weekend:
• 2' at sunrise
• 1' mid-morning
• 4' mid-afternoon
• 3' at sunset

FORECAST:

After a small weekend of surf, we have more of the same to start the week. Just waist high+ background SW groundswell and NW windswell. And the 2nd half of next week? Waist high at best. And after that? Just as small. 

Charts though show a small storm forming off New Zealand this weekend which may give us chest high sets around the 19th. Our best hope is a hurricane to form off Mexico but we're expected to have a slow season of course, so don't count on it. Make sure to check out Twitter/North County Surf if anything changes between now and then.

BEST BET:

Sunday with small Cristina swell or Monday/Tuesday with small background SW/NW.

WEATHER:

Great July weather is on tap this weekend once the low clouds burn off in the AM. Temps at the coast will hit the high 70's and our friends in Death Valley are looking at 124. Ouch. Or head up Mt. Whitney though where temps will be 80 degrees cooler at 44 degrees in the AM. The heat will start to subside by mid-week with temps back to the mid-70's at the beaches. 

 

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

While we wait for exciting waves and weather to return, here's some moments from our meteorological history! 

• 1999: Heavy thunderstorms hit the mountains and deserts each day starting on 7/11 and ending on 7/13. Rainfall rates included 1.65 inches in less than 30 minutes at Lake Henshaw, 1.57 inches in 20 minutes at Big Bear City, 1.4 inches in 30 minutes at Sugarloaf, 1.6 inches in 85 minutes at Forest Falls, one inch in one hour at Pine Cove, one inch in 25 minutes at Shelter Valley. One inch per hour rain rate occurred at Phelan. Two were killed and dozens were injured. Six homes were destroyed and many more were damaged. A twenty foot high wall of water, moving at 45 mph, moved 70-ton boulders at Forest Falls. Buildings washed away at Jenks Lake. Disastrous flooding and mud slides occurred at Oak Glen, Big Bear City, and Apple Valley. Flooding hit the Yucca Valley area, Beaumont area and Palm Springs. Roadways were closed due to flash flooding. On this day a tornado hit six miles east of Julian in Shelter Valley, although recorded wind speeds nearby were 43 mph. Building and structure damage occurred, trees were uprooted and knocked over. On this day 0.98 inch of rain fell in Victorville, the greatest daily amount on record for July. 
• 1968: The minimum temperature was 90° in Borrego Springs, the highest minimum temperature on record. This also occurred on 7/11/2002. 
• 1961: Afternoon thunderstorms rolled through Orange and L.A. Counties. A fisherman was killed by a lightning strike at Redondo Beach. Other lightning strikes knocked out transformers, took the police radio off the air, and ignited several fires. In the Antelope Valley, a funnel cloud was spotted by a pilot near Pearblossom. 
• 1957: A heavy thunderstorm struck Redlands with one inch of rainfall in 30 minutes. Lightning, hail and “winds, which blew alternately from every point of the compass” accompanied the storm. Within 10 minutes streets were flooded in Redlands. One girl drowned while swept nearly a mile down a storm drain. 
• 1954: Heavy thunderstorms struck the Morongo Basin. Flash floods hit Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms. Numerous roads were severely damaged and closed. Some roads were left covered in sand and mud.

PIC OF THE WEEK:

Reason #4,352 that friends aren't really your 'friends'. Got this image from a buddy last week. "Wish you were here." Thanks. Me too. 

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn

Certified

Hope I'm Kanye's Choice For VP!

Don't Like To Brag About How Radical A Surfer I Am

THE Surf Report- Early Edition

Deep breath...

SURF:

In the interest of public safety, I'm not going to turn on the Emergency Boardriding System this weekend to keep everyone's froth level down. Sure the sun will be out, the surf will be firing, and wearing trunks will be in order. Nope, I'm hoping cooler heads will prevail this weekend and everyone will stay clear of each other, not lay out on the beach, and we will beat this darn virus. So if you show up to surf and it's a zoo, try again later. Don't worry, there will be plenty of surf to go around this holiday weekend. 

On that note, hope you got some waves this past week. We had plenty of SW/NW combo surf and the water was relatively warm. The only issue of course was the crowds and strong winds. If you missed it, don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from. 

A small but strong storm formed off Antarctica last week and new S swell will start to fill in tomorrow morning. Most beaches will be chest high in the AM and shoulder high by the PM. On the 4th of July, the surf will be firing on all cylinders with overhead sets, warm water, mostly sunny skies, and enormous crowds in the line up. On Sunday, the S swell drops slightly but is joined by NW windswell for more head high+ sets and slightly peakier conditions. All in all, plenty of good surf and astronomical crowds. As far as the sun/water temps/tides go, here's what you need to know:

• Sunrise and sunset:
• 5:46 AM sunrise  
• 8:00 PM sunset 

• Now that we have sun again, water temps have finally hit 70 degrees. Choose your trunks accordingly. 

• And tides are all over the place this weekend:
• 0' at sunrise
• 4' mid-morning
• 2' mid-afternoon
• 6' at sunset 

FORECAST:

The S from the weekend backs off slightly but the NW windswell picks up again so we're back to head high surf. On Tuesday the S continues to drop but the NW windswell holds steady so look for more head high sets. 

Things start to wind down mid week and by next weekend, it looks pretty small. The tropics haven't kicked into gear yet but there may be a small tropical storm this weekend which could give us chest high sets around Tuesday- but it most likely will be lost amongst the dying S and consistent NW windswell. Make sure to check out Twitter/North County Surf if anything changes between now and then.

BEST BET:

Friday afternoon to Tuesday evening. That's a long stretch of fun to good surf. Enjoy responsibly! (I sound like a beer commercial)

WEATHER:

Just like the up and down tides this weekend, the weather will follow suit. We had high pressure building in from the SE today which will thin out the low clouds/fog this weekend for plenty of sun by mid-day and temps in the mid-70's. By Tuesday, low pressure returns and we have more extensive low clouds at the beaches and partial afternoon clearing at best. Temps will drop down to 70. And with the lack of tropical activity to our S, don't expect any monsoon moisture in our mountains/deserts for the near future. Bummer. Next weekend, models hint at good weather again. 

 

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

Just a mere 60 or so miles from the California border, the Gulf of California stretches over 900 miles and supports an extraordinary diversity of marine life, including many species of reef fish, marine turtles, and the vaquita- the world’s smallest porpoise. The Gulf of California is Mexico’s most important fisheries region with commercial species of shrimp, sardine and giant squid. One massive animal that resides in the Gulf is the whale shark. The whale shark is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species and have been seen as large as 50'+. The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the largest living nonmammalian vertebrate.

Besides the Gulf, whale sharks are also found in open waters of the tropical oceans and is rarely found in water below 70 °F. Modeling suggests a lifespan of about 80 years, and while measurements have proven difficult, estimates from field data suggest they may live as long as 130 years. Whale sharks have very large mouths and are filter feeders, which is a feeding mode that occurs in only two other sharks, the megamouth shark and the basking shark. They feed almost exclusively on plankton and small fishes. Sharks are terrifying creatures at the best of times, and whale sharks- despite being harmless to humans- is the biggest of all- much larger than the feared Great White (about 1/2 the size of whale sharks). But scientists have just revealed a whole new layer of wonder (and potentially terror) regarding the whale sharks. Here's cnet.com to explain:

Even though whale sharks are harmless to humans, a recent discovery showed that their eyes are covered in teeth. Yep, you read that right. The actual technical term is "dermal denticles." Dermal denticles are essentially tiny structures that look and feel very similar to scales, but are actually teeth. Shark skin, with its rough, sandpaper-like texture are also made up of dermal denticles. These dermal denticles actually help reduce friction in the water, enabling sharks to swim faster. 

But despite the fact sharks are covered in them, dermal denticles on literal eyeballs is pretty unique. Scientists from the Okinawa Churashima Research Center in Japan, who authored the study, say it's "a novel mechanism of eye protection in vertebrates". The teeth are a little different from those found on shark skin, because they are designed for "abrasion resistance". Essentially these teeth are designed to help protect the whale shark's eyeballs.

In addition to the whole "teeth on their eyeballs" thing, whale sharks also have what the Okinawan researchers are describing as "a strong ability to retract the eyeball into the eye socket." Both the retraction strategy and the whole "teeth on eyeballs" thing makes sense when you consider that whale sharks actually don't have eyelids. According to the research paper, this adaption is most likely unique to whale sharks. 

Pretty sure whale sharks have just officially become one of the most mental fish in the sea. 

PIC OF THE WEEK:

This pic is so below sea level that it might as well be Davy Jones' locker (the graveyard of the sea that is- not the singer from the Monkees. Or maybe that's him paddling over the back of the wave)? 

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn

The Greatest American Hero

Caught The Last Train To Clarksville

Funny Like Jeff Spicolli, Savvy Like Johnny Utah, & Surf Like Jimmy Slade