THE Surf Report

Back to normal.

SURF:
After a burly week we're left with normal conditions around here again. Just clear cold winter weather.

Today we have clean conditions and leftover swell from the storm with chest high NW sets. SD has the odd shoulder high set and the OC is around waist high. The swell drops even further tomorrow but we're left with great sunny weather and temps in the low 60's- still a good day to get outside.

By Sunday we get a small reinforcement out of the NW and some offshore winds in the morning. Look for chest high sets and great conditions. All in all little surf this weekend and nice weather.

Water temps are still 57 and tides the next few days are 5.5' at sunrise, down to -1' mid-afternoon, and just about 2' at sunset. Make sure to keep up to date on the waves/weather at Twitter/North County Surf.

FORECAST:

After the little NW on Sunday, that swell lingers into Monday and by Tuesday/Wednesday it looks pretty small around here. We get a little bump on Thursday from the NW again for shoulder high sets and a couple head high sets in SD. The OC is stuck around waist high. Charts though do show some more NW for next weekend.

And the southern hemisphere is trying to come to life but it's still not organized completely. Even though the OC won't get much NW next week, there may be some inconsistent chest high sets from the SW late Monday into Tuesday of next week. There's another storm trying to form down there this weekend that may give the OC a better shoulder high SW towards 3/4/13 and north county SD some chest high waves. Looks like a little bit of everything coming our way in the next 10 days.

WEATHER:

The excitement is over. No more hail, gusty winds, or downpours in the near future. We've got great weather on tap today- albeit cool, then a weak front moves through the Rockies and we may get some breezy NW winds Saturday afternoon. That turns offshore Sunday morning and things stabilize after that- the first part of the work week will be cool and clear with temps in the low 60's then a slight warm up to the high 60's late next week.

BEST BET:
Hard to say- nothing too big coming our way but lots of it. Maybe Sunday with the new NW or maybe Tuesday for the OC with a little SW or maybe next Thursday with the new small NW for SD. My head is spinning.

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

Considering this has been the most boring winter around here ever (thank you Non-El Nino aka El Non-O), I thought I'd post some facts on The Surf Report today of what a real winter looks like around here. Here's a sampling of weather facts from the 3rd week of February through out recorded history:

2000: Heavy rain caused lots of flooding and mud slides. Roads were washed out in Hemet. 18 inches of snow fell in Forest Falls in the San Bernardino Mountains. A tornado hit Anaheim Hills and caused property damage. Winds gusted to 75 mph along Highway 91 in Riverside county. Pines blew over at Lake Arrowhead.

1983: It rained for nine consecutive days (the most on record) in San Diego, Riverside and Palm Springs from 2/26 to 3/6

1980: Six storms hit Southern California. 12.75” of rain was measured in LA. 30 were killed in widespread floods and mud slides. Roads and hundreds of homes were destroyed or damaged. Mission Valley was completely inundated between Friars Rd. and I-8. Large waves hit coast during this stormy period, causing coastal flooding at Mission Beach, including water over the boardwalk and into houses.

1977: It was 86° at Victorville, the highest temperature on record for February.

1972: It was 77° at Palomar Mountain, the highest temperature on record for February. This also occurred on 2/13/1971.

1969: Up to 30 inches of precipitation fell on the south slopes of Mt. San Gorgonio. 21 died from flooding and mud slides all over California. An entire family was killed in Mt. Baldy Village when a mud slide hit their home. In the upper desert farmlands became lakes and more than 100 homes along the Mojave River were damaged. Roads and bridges recently repaired from January’s El Nino storm damage either washed out or were destroyed again.

1953: It was 24° in Palm Springs, the lowest temperature on record for February.

1944: A heavy storm struck San Bernardino County. Several snow slides, some 50 to 60 feet high, obliterated parts of the Rim of the World Highway.

1943: Heavy rainstorms hit the San Bernardino Mountains and Inland Empire starting on this day until 2/24. For the stormy period Lake Arrowhead received 13.36 inches

1891: A prolonged storm dropped 33 inches of rain in Descanso within a 60 hour period. 2.56 inches fell in San Diego.

BEST OF THE BLOG:

Heard all the controversy with Spy's new 'Happy Lens' technology? Seems as though a few months ago they put up a few billboards with slogans like 'Happy to Sit On Your Face' and 'Happiness is Coming'. Funny. Turns out, they didn't need all the hype- the shades are pretty darn good. See what all the fuss is about 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:

Sure we all know Europe's got a ton of good surf in Spain, England, France, Portugal, and Ireland. But what about those little out of the way countries Pat O' and Kelly visited in The Drive Thru Europe? In addition to great food and the some of the world's best nightlife, Italy and Greece can hold their own sometimes in the surf department as evident by these grainy photos I smuggled out the countries. 

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn
Model Citizen
I'm Your #1 Fan
Me and Mick are Going to Wing on Over to London and Jam with the Stones