THE Surf Report

 

Cool Is Cool?

SURF:

For months now, I've been touting the return of El Nino; water temps in the low 80's, more intense hurricanes, and a few warm tropical clouds overhead this summer. But now that the world is on fire (more on that below), I'm ok with air temps in the high 70's at the beaches and water temps in the low 70's. 

For this weekend, we've got small SSW swells AND a touch of building NW windswell. 

There may also be small waist high hurricane surf from Calvin- but he's small and moving to Hawaii. Regardless... we have a chance of chest high sets most everywhere on Saturday! Strike up the band! And the bonus of course- boardshorts are finally on tap. Sunday drops to the waist high+ range- so get on it tomorrow or Saturday. And here's the tides, sun, and water temps for this weekend:

• Sunrise and sunset this weekend:
• 5:51 AM sunrise 
• 7:58 PM sunset 

• Water temps:
• We are literally surrounded by cooler than average sea surface temperatures here in Southern California but we've been able to squeeze out a few buoy readings of 71 today. 

• And tides are pretty mellow this weekend (except for sunset):
• 1' at sunrise
• 3.5' late morning
• drops slightly to 2.5' mid-afternoon
• and 6' at sunset

FORECAST:

Nothing happening in Antarctica recently, so no SW swells of interest for next week. 

Charts show Hurricane Dora forming towards the middle of the week- and it could behave like Calvin- which means it may not get big AND head towards Hawaii too- so don't hold your breath for swell formation. If we do see anything from Dora- it will be next Saturday/Sunday. If anything changes between now and then, make sure to follow North County Surf on Twitter. 

WEATHER:

Summer high pressure is in control if you didn't notice. That means great beach weather- and awful weather in our deserts (Palm Springs could hit 120 this weekend). Looks like patchy fog may develop in the mornings but expect mostly sunny skies in the afternoons. In summary, here’s what we have for the upcoming week:

• This weekend: Mostly sunny skies and temps 75 during the day along the coast and high 60's at night- not much of a cool down.
• Monday through next week: Patchy fog in the AM, sunny skies by lunch, and temps 70/65 along the coast.

BEST BET:

Saturday with small but fun combo swell OR... maybe next weekend with the potential of small S swell from Dora.

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

Is it hot around here or is it just me? It's not unusual to have records broken during the year- but all at once? And now? It's hard to keep track of everything. But let's try anyway:

• The world just sweltered through its hottest June in the 174-year global climate record. The average global surface (land and ocean) temperature in June was 1.89 degrees F (1.05 degrees C) above average, ranking June 2023 as Earth’s warmest June on record. June 2023 was 0.23 of a degree F (0.13 of a degree C) warmer than the previous record set in June 2020. June 2023 also marked the 47th-consecutive June and the 532nd-consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average. The first half of 2023 ranked as the third warmest such YTD on record, with a global temperature of 1.82 degrees F (1.01 degrees C) above the 20th-century average of 56.3 degrees F (13.5 degrees C). According to NCEI’s Global Annual Temperature Outlook, there is a greater than 99% chance that 2023 will rank among the 10-warmest years on record and a 97% chance it will rank among the top five.
• Death Valley—which sits nearly 300 feet below sea level in the middle of California’s Mojave Desert— is known as the hottest place on Earth and in 1913 set an all-time heat record of a blistering 134 degrees. Scientists, however, have come to doubt the accuracy of that temperature reading, one of multiple records in the early 1900s that has come under intense scrutiny. In 2013, the World Meteorological Organization decertified what had been the world’s all-time hottest temperature, a 90-year-old measurement of 136.4 degrees in Al Azizia, Libya, after an evaluation found the recording faulty. Christopher Burt, who worked on the WMO decertification team, called the 1913 Death Valley “100% bogus” and likely came from an inexperienced temperature observer. Scientists believe Death Valley set the world’s all-time heat record once again in 2020, before outdoing itself the following year, though temperature measurements in both cases fell just shy of the 1913 record. The first of two recent world records came in August 2020 at Furnace Creek, when the high temperature reached 129.9 degrees. The second was in July 2021, when the temperature inched up to an even 130 degrees, believed to be the hottest reliable measurement of all time. This weekend though, Death Valley may hit an all-time high with a forecasted temp of 131. I hope they're wrong.

• For the third consecutive month, the global ocean surface temperature hit a record high as weak El Nino conditions that emerged in May continued to strengthen in June. Globally, June 2023 set a record for the highest monthly sea surface temperature anomaly of any month in NOAA’s climate record. Additionally, Earth’s ocean surface temperature anomaly — which indicates how much warmer or cooler temperatures are from the long-term average — were the highest ever recorded, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Spots along the Oregon and Washington coast are running about 5 degrees warmer than they should be (65 degrees vs. 60) and don't get me started on the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Keys. Water temps are normally high 80's this time of year but certain areas are seeing temps from 92-97. Yep- close to 100 degrees along the shore. 

PIC OF THE WEEK:

 

Would you rather have small waves but get to wear boardshorts (i.e this weekend in So-Cal) or get 6' barrels but have to wear a 5/4/3 fullsuit with gloves and booties (like the Pic of the Week)? Can we have our cake and eat it too?...

Keep Surfing, 
Michael W. Glenn
Memorable
I Find 131 Degree Heat Kind Of Relaxing
If I Wear Boardshorts On Shortboards Does That Mean I Have To Wear Boardlongs on Longboards?