THE Surf Report 8/31/12

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

SURF:
It was looking pretty bleak there for awhile. The surf has been flat it seems for weeks. Sure we had little bumps here and there in the OC, but when was the last time you rode a 6'2"? (for Slater, I think it was 1997). Anyway, you've probably heard we have surf coming from a variety of sources and first up is the solid southern hemisphere SW swell that started showing on the buoys last night.

Of course with big long period swells, there's lulls between sets, so don't expect any bombs this morning- most likely you'll get good surf this evening when the swell fills in further. Still, far north SD county has some inconsistent chest high sets and the OC has shoulder high sets. There's also small hurricane surf filling in today from Ileana which will help fill in the inconsistency. By tomorrow, look for head high sets in south SD, overhead sets in north SD, and sets a few feet overhead in the OC with the Wedge of course going double overhead+. AND the weather will co-operate with nice conditions by mid-morning. There's also some small NW windswell filling in tomorrow but it will most likely just peak up the lines in SD and not much for the OC- expect walled conditions at the beachbreaks unless you're surfing a jetty, pier, or reef. We'll have good surf through Sunday and Monday will have some leftover shoulder high sets in north SD and head high sets in the OC. Not a bad holiday weekend. And the water is still holding at 70.

And the tides the next few days are 1' at sunrise, 5.5' at 10 AM, down to 1' again at 4pm, and up slightly to 4' at sunset. Make sure to keep up to date on the waves and weather at Twitter/North County Surf. 

FORECAST:

After a good holiday weekend of surf, it goes quiet. Typical. The southern hemisphere had one big burp and now it's napping. Charts show some activity happening in about a week's time, but that means we won't see swell until mid-September.

Luckily the tropics are showing some life after Ileana and we may get some small hurricane surf again mid-week. Bares watching.

WEATHER:

Great weather will continue this weekend. We have a weak cold front moving through northern California but it will only kick up our early morning/late night low clouds and we should have sun by mid-morning and temps in the mid-70's at the coast. Hurricane Ileana may break apart and send clouds our way this weekend but it will be of the tropical kind- warm and humid. So the beach weather shouldn't be affected. Next week looks to be about the same with early morning clouds and nice beach weather in the afternoons. Gotta love this time of year.

BEST BET:
Saturday is the day- peaking solid SW and S swells, great beach weather, and some tropical clouds overhead. Why can't every day be like that?

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

More useless knowledge for when you finally get called up to Jeopardy. ON THIS DAY IN
WEATHER HISTORY!...

1998: Strong thunderstorms developed each day starting on 8/29 and ending on this day. 1.5 inches of rain fell at Apple Valley, 0.77 inch fell in only 45 minutes at Wrightwood, and 0.68 inch fell in only 30 minutes at Forest Falls. Homes and roads were flooded with four to six feet of water in Hesperia and Apple Valley. Rock slides occurred in Mill Creek. Roads were flooded in Sugarloaf and Forest Falls. Flash flooding was also recorded in Hemet. Severe thunderstorm wind gusts of 86 mph hit Sage (south of Hemet). Gusts of 50 mph were recorded at Rialto and gusts of 45 mph hit San Marcos. Trees and power lines were downed. Fires were started by lightning near Barona Ranch. Record heat occurred near the coast as well on these same days. Temperatures hit 112° in Yorba Linda, 110° in Hemet and Riverside, and over 100° in most of Orange County. It was 114° in Dulzura on 8/29.

1977: The wettest August on record in San Diego ended on this day with 2.13 inches.

1972: Hurricane Hyacinth moved as far west as 125 West before recurving to the northeast. The remnants made landfall between Los Angeles and San Diego on 9/3 with winds of 25 mph and rainfall of up to one inch in the mountains from 8/29 to 9/6. This tropical cyclone holds the distinction of traveling the farthest west before recurving and making landfall in Southern California. This occurred during the El Niño of 1972-73. Only 0.44 inch was measured in San Diego.

1967: Hurricane Katrina crossed the southern tip of Baja California, then traversed almost the entire length of the Gulf of California before making landfall again and rapidly weakening. More than two inches of rain fell on 8/30 and on this day. Two inches fell at La Quinta and the city was cut off for several hours. 150 homes were damaged by floods in Palm Desert and Indian Wells. Numerous roads were washed out in the Coachella Valley. The Fort Irwin road north of Barstow was flooded, isolating the army base on 8/30.

1955: A prolonged heat wave started on this day and ended on 9/7. It was 110° in LA on 9/1, an all time record for 1955. It was 98° in San Diego and 103° in Santa Ana on this day, both highest temperatures on record for August.

1939: Sea surface temperatures off the coast for the month of August were in the upper 70s, with some reports near San Diego of 80°. This occurred ahead of the tropical storms of the following month of 9/1939.

1928: It was 42° in Escondido, the lowest temperature on record for August.

1889: LA recorded its greatest 24 hour rainfall amount for August at 0.61 inch.

BEST OF THE BLOG:
Ever see Mothra vs. Godzilla? We have our own battle here in San Diego. There's a big sand replenishment project coming to San Diego County beaches and it's going to battle the coming El Nino. Who's going to win? Check the story on the North County Surf blog. And of course a mid-week Surf Check and an in depth THE Surf Report. All of that and more in the blog below!

PIC OF THE WEEK:

So we've got great weather this weekend and warm water- so why am I showing a picture of Iceland? Because I can. Really though, I'm just trying to get you pumped for the upcoming winter and El Nino. So head on over to TransWorld Surf's website and check out the travel tips on Iceland. Or just wait a few months for December to come around here. Your choice. 

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn
Boundless
Didn't Get the GOP Nomination
Developed the World's First 1 mm Fullsuit. It's Not Warm.