Hello fellow Quarantinians!
Thanks to everyone that's been part of Boardz N The Hood this past week- and thanks to all the people who have watched. It's been a fun project; we're just happy to be talking about surfing again while we wait out the quarantine. From groms, to dads who want to be groms again, it's been great to pull these boards out of the rafters, dust them off, and relive the memories that make us surfers. We've got 3 new episodes this past week and the boards range from grovelers, to guns, to Getty Museum pieces. I'll continue to put new episodes out as we wait out the beach ban so make sure to check out the stories at in the blog below!
SURF:
Hope everyone is doing well as we're hunkered down for the time being. Good news is that this isn't like the wildfires of 2007 where it was 90 degrees and smoky outside, you had to stay in the house with the windows shut (without air conditioning might I add) and the county was on fire all around you. I guess on the flip side, we just had 7 1/2" of rain in 6 days, you didn't want to go outside in that mess anyway, and my roof was doing it's best impression of Niagara Falls. So I had that going for me. Long story short, as we do out best to stay safe at home, it sure is nice to see the warm sun.
As far as the surf goes this past week, if you could even get close enough to see it, you would have noticed a fun little SW swell with a touch of NW. Yes, everything looks better when you can't have it, but trust me, it wasn't firing. Sunshine makes everything look better. Speaking of the sun (or lack thereof), we've got a weak cold front coming through tomorrow which will increase the surf slightly on Saturday to chest high sets but it most likely will be bumpy. We should only get weak showers- nothing like last week- but it won't help the surf in any way. Saturday looks to be cool (air temp that is- not the Fonz) as the front departs the region.
Sunday will be clean with increasing S swell late in the day. This new swell was pretty S of us- not the best angle for San Diego- but far N county will see chest high surf. And if you're still interested, here's some numbers to crunch on:
Tides and sun this weekend are:
- Sunrise and sunset are:
- 6:15 AM sunrise
- 7:21 PM sunset
- Water temps are finally warming up! Most locations are 64. Before the quarantine we were wearing 4/3's. When we get back in the water again, we'll be wearing trunks!
- And tides are pretty straightforward this weekend:
- 4' at sunrise
- 0' after lunch
- 4' at sunset
FORECAST:
The new small S swell on Sunday fills in even more on Monday/Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, we have a new W swell filling in that rolls into Wednesday. Most beaches will be chest high with shoulder high sets on Tuesday. Does this mean my streak of good surf/bad weather or bad surf/good weather during the quarantine will be broken? NO! The beaches I'm guessing won't be open by then so that means... more crummy weather must be on tap to screw up the surf! (I really do need to go buy a lottery ticket). Look for another cold front to swing through Monday/Tuesday to give us breezy conditions and messy surf. Wednesday things should clear up- and we'll still have fun surf- so maybe the streak will be broken by then. But don't count on it.
Models show a storm in the far N Pacific this weekend which should send us more chest to shoulder high surf towards next week AND... maybe nice weather. Will the streak be broken by then? My prediction if you'll remember is that once the beach ban is lifted, we'll have good surf again. So I guess we'll have to wait and see if the ban will be lifted in 7 days...
WEATHER:
In this constantly changing world, it's good to see our spring weather get back on track. Heaps of sun the past few days will give way to April showers Friday/Saturday. Sunday is a transition day then we're back to a slightly stronger cold front Monday/Tuesday. This shouldn't be a strong rain producer but expect showers and maybe 1/10" to 1/4". The 2nd half of next week SHOULD be sunny and mild. Like spring. Make sure to check out Twitter/North County Surf if anything changes between now and then.
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
The storm last week was record breaking to say the least here in N County SD. Encinitas as you know recorded over 4.5" in one day and 7.5" over the course of the 6 day storm. It almost seems like El Nino lis here but we're in a neutral pattern- no La Nina and no El Nino. That storm just decided to sit on top of us for a few days and as it did, drew up copious amounts of ocean water and dumped it on top of us. We've got a few showers Friday/Saturday, cool weather Sunday, and back to showers Monday/Tuesday. These weak cold fronts may produce 1/4" of rain total. Just enough to mess up the surf we can't ride. No biggy. So where do we stand with our rainfall this season? Here's the latest:
- Newport Beach: 12.75" so far. 104% of normal. Aiming for 13.3" this season.
- Oceanside: 17.25" so far. 140% of normal. Already surpassed our average of 13.66" for the season!
- San Diego: 13.41" so far. 139% of normal. Already surpassed our average of 10.34" for the season!
My rule of thumb for 'El Nino' type years is around 150% of normal and Oceanside and San Diego are close to that. I don't think they'll get another 2-3" this season (but seriously, who knows), so we'll have to wait and see. Regardless, it's been a good season for rain this year. For next season, can we ask Mother Earth to spread it out a little bit and not get all of it at once?!
BEST OF THE BLOG:
PIC OF THE WEEK:
The person who owns that house is probably fine with this whole social distancing thing.
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
Suave
Gotten Really Good At That Xbox Thing
Even Though I Haven't Surfed In 2 Weeks- I'm Still A Surfer
