Drizzle & Sizzle.
SURF:
Been quite a run of surf. Not the biggest per se the last few weeks- but it's been rideable every day. Normally we get a good swell, then it goes quiet for a week or so, and then the waves pick back up again. Not lately- we've had days upon days of waves. I'd rather take that than bombing surf and then flat for a month! For the weekend, we have yet more swells lined up on the horizon but S winds may be an issue towards Sunday.
The current SW swell today will drop slightly on Friday but a touch of new NW windswell will prop it up on Saturday to the chest high range.
On Sunday, we have new S swell arriving while the NW windswell rises too. Look for shoulder high+ combo swell (but the S winds may blow early so beware). And here’s the sun, tides, and water temps for the upcoming weekend:
- Sunrise and sunset:
- 5:41 AM sunrise
- 7:59 PM sunset
- Water temps were slowly rising before the NW winds kicked in the past couple days. Still pleasant though at 66 degrees and happens to be on par for mid-June, even though we're in a La Nina phase.
- And tides aren't doing much this weekend:
- about 3' at sunrise
- down to 1.5' before lunch
- almost 5' at 6 PM
- and back down to 4' at sunset
FORECAST:
The good combo swell continues Monday and the S winds may hang around too unfortunately. Tuesday has leftover chest high combo swell and Wednesday gets back to the waist high+ range and cleaner conditions.
Models though show another storm forming this weekend in the southern hemisphere and we could see more shoulder high+ S swell towards the 24th. And nothing to speak of in the tropics yet. If anything changes between now and then, make sure to follow North County Surf/X (formerly known as Twitter)!
WEATHER:
Even with the early morning June Gloom drizzle the past week, we have seen the sun late in the day. That looks to be the same scenario as we finish out spring the next 7 days. Here's what's in store:
- Friday through next week: Early morning/late night low clouds but sunny cool afternoons. Temps 67/62.
BEST BET:
- Sunday/Monday could be good enough to turn on the Emergency Boardriding System IF... the predicted S winds aren't problematic.
- Or maybe towards the 24th of June with new S swell.
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
Been some odd red tides around southern California the past few weeks. Kind of a 'now you see it, now you don't' pattern. Currently, it looks like it's dissipating with just southern SD seeing some murky water today. So what caused the red tides recently and every spring the past few years for that matter? Here's CBS News 8 to investigate:
If you’ve been to the beach lately you may have noticed the waves look different. The brownish-looking water is from a red tide that happens this time of year but lately it appears to be more dramatic.
“Foul. It just looks foul,” said local Larry Phelps. SD resident John Giadowski says he can’t see his surf board when he’s riding the waves. “Chocolate milk, kind of, you know, little Nestle’s Nesquick,” he added. Ashley Canchola hasn’t seen brownish water like this in the Venice Beach area where she is from. “I feel as if that is not natural. And it looks orange and metallic, like rust,” said Canchola.
Natural phenomenon
But it is a natural phenomenon. The red tide wasn’t seen clearly at the Scripps Pier in La Jolla but the red tide was dramatic near the Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. “A red tide just really means there’s a lot of plankton in the water, and it’s causing our eyes to see this reddish color,” said Clarissa Anderson.
She is the director of the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She says robotic microscopes are capturing several images of plankton near the Scripps Pier throughout the day that often flourish during a red tide. “It’s when the plankton in the ocean, these are the tiny, microscopic algae, that are really responsible for most of the oxygen we breathe on the planet and bloom,” said Anderson.
The scientists say the red tide red tide wasn’t as common in the spring into summer until 2019. “It’s been an interesting phenomenon. We don’t know what it means. It might just mean that we’re having more of these warmer stratified conditions in the spring than we used to have,” said Anderson.
While the tide doesn’t look clean it is harmless to humans. “Sometimes people describe it as dirty, but it’s not dirty. These are algae, just like the kelp you see at the ocean,” she said. Anderson adds if someone has asthma or is sensitive to algae they should avoid getting in the water, but for most people it’s safe to get in. “It’s a little scary. I thought it was pollution. But thank you,” said Canchola.
One thing that is off with this week’s red tide is that there is not the bioluminescence light show that people often associate with the red tide. “Normally, when it’s this at night, you get that, that bioluminescence, but at this point, it’s already dying off, and it’s not even glowing at night,” said Anderson.
Researchers are checking the images of plankton in this week’s red tide and have not found the organism that causes the waves to glow in a red tide. “It’s really one organism who’s incredibly good at creating bioluminescence, and it is one of the many that can form a red tide,” said Anderson.
The red tide may also be impacting sharks. She agrees with the Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab. They told CBS 8 since there was a prominent red tide in Del Mar where a shark bit a swimmer recently, the shark may have been caught in the dense plankton.
“If you’re a shark and you’re underneath that and you’re hunting, it may very well be that your vision is obscured. We know they don’t have great vision as it is, and that your vision is obscured as you’re coming up through the water column to hunt prey that you could mistake your prey and accidentally bite a human,” said Anderson.
If you’ve been to the beach lately you may have noticed the waves look different. The brownish-looking water is from a red tide that happens this time of year but lately it appears to be more dramatic.
“Foul. It just looks foul,” said local Larry Phelps. SD resident John Giadowski says he can’t see his surf board when he’s riding the waves. “Chocolate milk, kind of, you know, little Nestle’s Nesquick,” he added. Ashley Canchola hasn’t seen brownish water like this in the Venice Beach area where she is from. “I feel as if that is not natural. And it looks orange and metallic, like rust,” said Canchola.
Natural phenomenon
But it is a natural phenomenon. The red tide wasn’t seen clearly at the Scripps Pier in La Jolla but the red tide was dramatic near the Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. “A red tide just really means there’s a lot of plankton in the water, and it’s causing our eyes to see this reddish color,” said Clarissa Anderson.
She is the director of the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She says robotic microscopes are capturing several images of plankton near the Scripps Pier throughout the day that often flourish during a red tide. “It’s when the plankton in the ocean, these are the tiny, microscopic algae, that are really responsible for most of the oxygen we breathe on the planet and bloom,” said Anderson.
The scientists say the red tide red tide wasn’t as common in the spring into summer until 2019. “It’s been an interesting phenomenon. We don’t know what it means. It might just mean that we’re having more of these warmer stratified conditions in the spring than we used to have,” said Anderson.
While the tide doesn’t look clean it is harmless to humans. “Sometimes people describe it as dirty, but it’s not dirty. These are algae, just like the kelp you see at the ocean,” she said. Anderson adds if someone has asthma or is sensitive to algae they should avoid getting in the water, but for most people it’s safe to get in. “It’s a little scary. I thought it was pollution. But thank you,” said Canchola.
One thing that is off with this week’s red tide is that there is not the bioluminescence light show that people often associate with the red tide. “Normally, when it’s this at night, you get that, that bioluminescence, but at this point, it’s already dying off, and it’s not even glowing at night,” said Anderson.
Researchers are checking the images of plankton in this week’s red tide and have not found the organism that causes the waves to glow in a red tide. “It’s really one organism who’s incredibly good at creating bioluminescence, and it is one of the many that can form a red tide,” said Anderson.
The red tide may also be impacting sharks. She agrees with the Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab. They told CBS 8 since there was a prominent red tide in Del Mar where a shark bit a swimmer recently, the shark may have been caught in the dense plankton.
“If you’re a shark and you’re underneath that and you’re hunting, it may very well be that your vision is obscured. We know they don’t have great vision as it is, and that your vision is obscured as you’re coming up through the water column to hunt prey that you could mistake your prey and accidentally bite a human,” said Anderson.
BEST OF THE BLOG:
Surf is up and the sun is out- must be time for another North County Board Meeting event! As you know, NCBM was founded on 4 pillars: networking, charitable work, finding an excuse to ride waves, and... supporting local surf owned business. Which brings us to Coffee Coffee and the crew from Surfhouse, who gave it a remodel just in time for summer. Come join us on Thursday EVENING (coffee isn’t just for breakfast anymore), June 20th at 5:30 PM to grab a drink, maybe a slice of pizza or two, network, and learn about the origins of this iconic business in Leucadia. And feel free to bring a friend! The only prerequisite is to have a passion for riding waves. Thanks for supporting your community and we’ll see you on the 20th!
PIC OF THE WEEK:
There's just something about the tropics. Is it the abundance of empty waves? Is it the warm water? Is it the sun for days on end? Is it the free coconuts? Gotta be the coconuts.
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
Indestructible
Turning June Gloom Into June Glam
Captain, USA Surf Team
Michael W. Glenn
Indestructible
Turning June Gloom Into June Glam
Captain, USA Surf Team
