THE Surf Report- Early Edition- Again

Winter is making up for fall.

SURF:
We've been pretty lucky around here. No real big storms to generate surf (or rain for that matter) but we've had rideable waves and great weather.

Today started off slow but we had new NW groundswell hitting the buoys later in the day and we've got waist high+ sets from the NW on tap for tomorrow with shoulder high sets in SD.

We then get another slightly bigger bump from the WNW on Saturday- as well as continuing great weather. Look for shoulder high sets in north county SD and head high+ sets in south SD. 2013 is ending on a high note I would say.

Water temps are holding at 60 and tides the next few days are 5' at sunrise, about 1' mid-day, and up to 3' at sunset. Make sure to keep up to date on the waves/weather at Twitter/North County Surf.

FORECAST:

After a fun weekend of surf, the WNW starts to drop on Monday but not much. We actually maintain waist to chest high size through Tuesday then we get a reinforcement out of the NW on Wednesday for shoulder high sets- and overhead waves in SD. That will last into Friday morning.

Next weekend looks to be pretty slow around here but we may get another fun chest high+ towards Monday. Nothing big but plenty fun for the next 7 days at least.

WEATHER:

Man are we hurting for some rain around here. We're going to roll into January with no big storms to speak of. I usually think of big storms as ones that drop an inch+ of rain and we usually get 2-3 of those a winter. A good soaking around here on the other hand is around 1/2". And a quick passing cold front will at least give us 1/4". So far this winter we've only had a few storms that give us 1/4" to 1/2"- none of those big 1" dumpers. So until then, we're left with sunny skies, mild Santa Ana conditions, and beach temps in the high 70's during the day. We have a weak cold front passing through on Saturday but our temps will only drop to the low 70's and some high clouds- something the people of Michigan would kill for this time of year. Then high pressure sets up yet again early next week and we're back to clear sunny skies and temps in the mid-70's again. No rain in sight.

BEST BET:
Hard to say- maybe Saturday or Wednesday when those two new fun NW swells fill in. And great weather too.

NEWS OF THE WEEK:

I'm beginning to tire of our perfect winter weather so I dug up some facts (with the help of the National Weather Service) of some REAL weather this time of year. My favorite: almost 30" of rain fell on Mt. Wilson during 12-17-12/27 in 1921. Can you imagine what the sandbars at the rivermouths in Southern California were like after those storms?! Solid.

2000: Santa Ana winds blew on 12/25 and on this day. Gusts of 87 mph were measured at Fremont Canyon. Damage and injuries occurred in Mira Loma, and in Orange County.

1997: It was 0° at Big Bear Lake and 4° at Big Bear Airport.

1988: A week of subfreezing temperatures hit Southern California starting on 12/24 and ending on 12/30. Five died as a result of the cold.

1987: A cold snap descended on the region. It was 9° at Mt. Laguna, and 22° in Valley Center on 12/25. On this day it was 15° in Julian and Mt. Laguna, 16° in Campo, 22° in Poway, 26° in El Cajon, 30° in Del Mar, and 37° in San Diego. Extensive damage to avocado and citrus crops resulted.

1971: A series of wet storms hit the region during this week starting on 12/22 and ending on 12/28. 19.44 inches fell in Lake Arrowhead, 15.26 inches in Lytle Creek, 12.31 inches in Big Bear Lake, 7.49 inches in Palomar Mountain, 5.45 inches in San Bernardino, 4.98 inches in Santa Ana, 3.92 inches in Redlands, 3.04 inches in Riverside, 2.28 inches in San Diego, 1.24 inches in Palm Springs, and 1.02 inches in Victorville. Extensive street flooding occurred across the region. This day marked the start of seven consecutive days (the most on record) of measurable precipitation in Victorville, which ended on 12/28. This also occurred on 2/18-24/2005, 1/13-19/1993, and 2/14-20/1980. These heavy storms started out warm on previous days, but then turned colder on this day to 12/28. The three day snowfall was up to two feet deep at Lake Arrowhead, 20 inches at Palomar Mountain, 15 inches at Big Bear Lake, 13 inches at Idyllwild, and six inches at Cuyamaca. Snow closed the Morongo Pass at Yucca Valley for a time.

1921: A succession of heavy storms from 12/17 to 12/27 produced a total of 29.38 inches at Mt. Wilson (only 1.48 inches had fallen there since 5/23). 30.64 inches fell at Squirrel Inn at Lake Arrowhead. From 12/24 to this day, 6.76 inches fell in LA. Widespread flooding of roads, bridges, railroads, farms, etc., resulted. Flooded areas along the Santa Ana and San Gabriel Rivers were easily seen from atop Mt. Wilson from the coast to 20 to 30 miles inland. Lake Arrowhead rose seven feet. On this day 2.10 inches fell in Redlands and 1.71 inches fell in San Bernardino.

1891: A period of very cold weather started on 12/23 and ended on 12/30. San Diego pools had ice 0.5 inch thick on the surface and ice one inch thick formed on oranges on trees in Mission Valley. The low temperature in San Diego was 32°, the lowest temperature on record for December.

PIC OF THE WEEK:

A few years ago I invested in a 'luxury' boat charter company that was going to operate out of 'Indo'. I gave $10k to a guy who said he was setting up the next 'Indies Trader' and we were going to be filthy rich. I transferred the funds to his bank account and didn't hear from him for a couple years. He then sent me this last week pic and said he was up and running. Turns out it was a 2 man panga boat he was operating and the wave was in an unstable Central American country. So I got that going for me in 2014.

Keep Surfing,

Michael W. Glenn
Jack of All Trades
Filling In for Dick Clark Next Week
First Goofyfoot to Make the Tour