Winter is here.
SURF:
Had a slow start to the week but then it kicked into gear on yesterday as a new W swell from a very large and wet storm hit northern California. Luckily for us the storm is staying up north but sending us its' swell.
The W continues to build today and peaks with double overhead surf at best spots in SD and overhead sets in north county SD. North and South OC even get into the act due to the W angle and sees some head high sets. Central OC (like Laguna and Newport) get skunked unfortunately as Catalina blocks most of the swell and just some chest high sets for them. Look for more good surf holding through Monday, albeit a couple feet smaller. Weather should hold with only light showers off and on and light winds. Should be a good weekend of surf.
Beware the tides though- the next few days they're about 3' at sunrise, 6' mid-morning, and down to -0.5' at sunset. Water temps are still holding in the low 60's and getting colder. Make sure to keep up to date on the waves/weather at
Twitter/North County Surf.FORECAST:
After the solid W this weekend, we get some leftovers on Monday for head high sets in SD. There's not a lot on the charts in the near term and Tuesday/Wednesday look small. We get a little bump from the NW on Thursday though for chest high sets. Long term it looks like the north Pacific will come back to life but for next week don't expect much.
The southern hemisphere doesn't look like much either- we have a small storm trying to flare up early next week but best case would be waist high+ SW for the OC around the 8th/9th.
WEATHER:
As mentioned above, there's a massive storm that's been hitting northern California the past few days and will continue to slam it this weekend. 20'+ surf, winds over 50mph, and up to 1/2 foot of rain. A real mess. Luckily for us the storm is moving east to west and we're only getting the underbelly as it slides above us (gross). We'll only get a little chance of showers down here today and again on Sunday. Nothing really to mess up the surf. Next week we get a little more sun to start the work week then a return of low clouds/fog the second half of the week. No real rain in sight and we're WAAAY behind on our rainfall totals unfortunately.
BEST BET:
Good surf all weekend but the peak of the W swell is today so sneak out- or better yet- call in sick!
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
It’s funny how we religiously follow the tides as they dictate if our surf will be firing or not, but do we really know what tides are? NOAA can help shed some light on the matter for us: Tides are long-period waves that roll around the planet as the ocean is "pulled" back and forth by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun as these bodies interact with the Earth in their monthly and yearly orbits. During full or new moons—which occur when the Earth, sun, and moon are nearly in alignment—average tidal ranges are slightly larger. This occurs twice each month. The moon appears new (dark) when it is directly between the Earth and the sun. The moon appears full when the Earth is between the moon and the sun. In both cases, the gravitational pull of the sun is "added" to the gravitational pull of the moon on Earth, causing the oceans to bulge a bit more than usual. These are called spring tides, a common historical term that has nothing to do with the season of spring. Rather, the term is derived from the concept of the tide "springing forth." Spring tides occur twice each lunar month all year long, without regard to the season. Seven days after a spring tide, the sun and moon are at right angles to each other. When this happens, the bulge of the ocean caused by the sun partially cancels out the bulge of the ocean caused by the moon. This produces moderate tides known as neap tides, which also occur twice a month. NOAA’s tide and tidal current predictions take into account astronomical considerations due to the position of the moon and the sun.
BEST OF THE BLOG:
Al Merrick is playing Santa Claus this week and is unloading some past season's models. Check out the cheap Channel Islands boards (cheap being a relative word of course) at the North County Surf Blog. And of course a mid-week Surf Check and an in depth THE Surf Report - all of that and morin the blog below!
PIC OF THE WEEK:
Ahhhhh Jamaica. Home of Bob Marley, Usain Bolt, and illegal cigarettes. And some fun surf too. Not the biggest waves but warm water, minimal crowds, and cold Red Stripes. Yeah mon.
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
Pied Piper
Powerball Loser
Shaped A Paipo For Pat O'
