I don't call it 'grovelling', I call it 'getusedtoit'.
SURF:
This time of year we should be talking about getting those step ups out of the rafters, fixing those dings, making sure that leash is secured tightly, and seeing if we have the nerve to paddle out. But this year isn't normal of course, so instead we're talking about how small of a wave we can ride, is purchasing a SUP worth it, and adding a few pounds around the mid-section doesn't look to shabby. So while we wait for the waves of fall and winter to kick in, SD is left with waist high to chest high surf, cooler air temps, and sparse crowds thankfully. For Friday, we've got leftover SW on with a touch of new windswell for more waist to chest high surf. One note: we have a couple weak cold fronts moving through Saturday/Sunday so it may be on the junky side. But by Sunday it will be small anyway- so no biggie. And here's the tides, sun, and water info:
- Sunrise and sunset:
- 7:00 AM sunrise! Sheesh that's late.
- 6:05 PM sunset! Sheesh that's early.
- And with the cooling air temps, our water temps are responding to the mid-60's
- And the tides this weekend look like one of those roller coasters at the fair- pretty tame:
- 4.5' at breakfast
- 2.5' at lunch
- 4.5' at dinner
FORECAST:
Still no major storms in the Pacific mean still no major surf for us.
Models today showed a short lived storm of the Aleutians this weekend which may give us waist high+ surf on Tuesday with chest high sets in SD (with small background SW).
Further out, the southern hemisphere can't get organized but we could see waist high SW around Halloween with a chest high set at best OC spots. So there you have it! Make sure to check out Twitter/North County Surf if anything changes between now and then.
BEST BET:
Tuesday with cleaner conditions and small NW/SW. Or maybe Halloween with clean conditions again and waist high sets from the SW. Looking forward to it!
WEATHER:
We have something to talk about finally! Looks like our first real weather is headed our way this weekend. Now granted, it's nothing big, but it's something different nonetheless. Here's what we got: A weak cold front moves through late Friday into Saturday for around 0.10" of rain. We then get a slightly stronger system for late Sunday into Monday which could give us 0.25" at the coast and maybe slightly more depending if the storm sucks up a little moisture over the Pacific. Regardless, look for cloudy skies this weekend, a slight breeze, and keep the jacket handy. Air temps will also be a story this weekend with highs only the mid-60's during the day and mid-50's at night. I'm super excited. Unfortunately, as is normal this time of year, once that low pressure leaves the area on Tuesday, high pressure sets up behind it and we've got a slight Santa Ana condition. I'm not super excited about that. Hopefully winds won't be that strong next week.
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
Everything you always wanted to ask the ocean but were afraid to ask:
- Why can't you drink seawater?
- Seawater is toxic to humans because your body is unable to get rid of the salt that comes from seawater. Your body normally gets rid of excess salt by having the kidneys produce urine, but it needs freshwater to dilute the salt in your body for the kidneys to work properly. Normally that is not a problem, as you are always drinking water and eating food with water. Tissue in your body also contains freshwater that can be used. But if there is too much salt in your body, your kidneys cannot get enough freshwater to dilute the salt and your body will fail. So there.
- Where does all the Earth's water come from?
- Primordial Earth was an incandescent globe made of magma, but all magmas contain water. Water set free by magma began to cool down the Earth's atmosphere, until it could stay on the surface as a liquid. Volcanic activity kept and still keeps introducing water in the atmosphere, thus increasing the surface- and groundwater volume of the Earth.
The water cycle has no starting point. But, we'll begin in the oceans, since that is where 96% of Earth's water exists. The sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in the oceans. Some of it evaporates as vapor into the air. Ice and snow can sublimate directly into water vapor. Rising air currents take the vapor up into the atmosphere, along with water from evapotranspiration, which is water transpired from plants and evaporated from the soil. The vapor rises into the air where cooler temperatures cause it to condense into clouds.
Air currents move clouds around the globe, cloud particles collide, grow, and fall out of the sky as precipitation. Some precipitation falls as snow and can accumulate as ice caps and glaciers, which can store frozen water for thousands of years. Snowpacks in warmer climates often thaw and melt when spring arrives, and the melted water flows overland as snowmelt.
Most precipitation falls back into the oceans or onto land, where, due to gravity, the precipitation flows over the ground as surface runoff. A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys in the landscape, with streamflow moving water towards the oceans. Runoff, and groundwater seepage, accumulate and are stored as freshwater in lakes. Not all runoff flows into rivers, though. Much of it soaks into the ground as infiltration. Some water infiltrates deep into the ground and replenishes aquifers (saturated subsurface rock), which store huge amounts of freshwater for long periods of time.
Some infiltration stays close to the land surface and can seep back into surface-water bodies (and the ocean) as groundwater discharge, and some groundwater finds openings in the land surface and emerges as freshwater springs. Over time, though, all of this water keeps moving, some to reenter the ocean, where the water cycle ends- or where I guess it begins again?
- Are garbage patches floating islands of trash?
- You may have heard about garbage patches and envisioned floating landfills. In fact, tiny microplastics make up the majority of the debris in garbage patches (by quantity). The currents in certain areas of the ocean form a sort of whirlpool, pulling in microplastics as well as larger debris like derelict fishing nets. Rather than floating, debris is spread from the surface to the seafloor and scattered over huge areas of the ocean. The currents are constantly shifting and moving debris around. This makes cleaning up garbage patches a very difficult task. NOAA’s Marine Debris Program focuses on marine debris prevention as well as removal on shorelines and in coastal areas.
- Do sharks hunt humans?
- Sharks are depicted in movies as ruthless man-eaters, hunting humans for sport or revenge. In reality, humans are not part of any shark’s natural diet (unless you saw the super realistic movie 'The Meg' which was totally awesome if I don't say so myself). There are over 500 species of sharks, but the majority are not a threat to us. Unprovoked interactions with humans are extremely rare. In fact, a world without sharks is a much bigger threat. Removing apex predators like large sharks from marine ecosystems has negative impacts throughout the food web, including on the fish and shellfish that we eat. NOAA’s Marine Fisheries Service works to ensure healthy shark populations in U.S. waters, and to protect endangered shark species.
- Are melting icebergs the cause of our current sea level rise?
- When you add an ice cube to your glass, the water level goes up. But when that ice cube melts, there’s no additional change in the water level. The same process applies to sea level rise. Glaciers hold ice on land. When they start to melt and break apart, that ice enters the marine environment. Land-based ice can melt and enter the ocean as liquid water, or large chunks can break away in the form of icebergs. When these icebergs enter the water, sea level rises. Increased melting of land-based ice is one of the major causes of global sea level rise. But once the ice is floating in the water, the sea level does not change again when it melts.
- Do whales shoot water out of their blowholes?
- The famous image of a spout of water rising as a whale surfaces leads many to believe whales are expelling water into the air. But whales don’t have water in their lungs. Blowholes work like nostrils; the spray is just them exhaling air. Then what makes the spray? Some of it may be water on the top of the whale’s head when it surfaces, and some is mucus, just like when you blow your nose. But the rest of the spray is actually water vapor. The air inside a whale’s lungs is much warmer than the air outside. When this warm air is expelled, it immediately condenses into water vapor.
PIC OF THE WEEK:
I can't WAIT to surf waves like this again in 2023!
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
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