Rain but it's the wind...

Here she comes!  No, not the rain, well, ok some rain but it’s the swell I’m talking about.  We’ve got some NW groundswell on the way for Wednesday. The buoys are picking up steadily with 20 second periods on the local buoys.  The big spoiler will be the wind that’s about to blast through and make chop liver out of everything. We’re looking at surf to pick up into the chest high range tonight with super inconsistent sets in the shoulder high range by Wednesday morning.  Through the day the swell will pick up but the windswell is going to really jump by midday and I’m expecting things to be big but messy as this cold storm moves through.  Wave heights hitting well overhead by sundown but winds gusting to 35mph.  Big windswell sticks around for Thursday morning but winds will die down.  The windswell diminishes all day with chest/shoulder high surf by sunset.  That groundswell will technically still be in the background but it’ll taper off to waist/chest by Friday morning and then waist high by evening.  Smaller WNW swell for Sat with waist high surf.  A new shorter period groundswell looks to fill in for Sunday with a little more windswell on top of it.  Waves in the waist/chest range for the early morning session bumping up to chest/shoulder by sundown.  Monday morning actually looks decent with calmer winds, less windswell and the tail end of a NW groundswell.  Size in the waist/chest range with some shoulder high sets sneaking in through the morning.  Some interesting smaller bursts of WNW swells look to be lining up across the North Pacific. Not huge by any means but some consistent surf to play on.  We’ll see how those little buggers pan out over the next few days.

Oh, the weather…what shall we do with the weather.  Well, technically as I type it’s raining but it’ll probably be over by the time I finish this sentence.  The big story here at the coast is the cold air temps and wind.  LOTS of gusty winds.  Forecast says hail and thunderstorms too. WOOHOOOOOO!  But don’t blink or you’ll miss it!  The bulk of the worst rain and wind will be overnight and then some stiff 15-20mph winds with gusts to 35mph during the day Wednesday.  Winds and chances of rain decrease Wed night.  A second little spritz of rain might squeeze out of a cloud or two Thursday but we’ll see mostly clouds.  Clearing and mostly sunny as we slide into the weekend. Air temps will be cold though…mid50s through Thursday and then highs in the low 60s for Fri/Sat.  The nicest day will be Sun/Mon…sunny and mid/high60s along the coast.  Water temps are in the mid50s.  Tides are working their way towards the more extreme side as we approach the full moon.  Medium high dawn patrol tide will drain out to a midday low near zero feet then back up for a medium sunset tide.  We’re past the King Tide phase so the weekend extreme highs won’t be too bad nor will the drained out afternoon lows.

Surf’s probably gonna be a mess for a few days…weekend looks like of fun though!

Stay wet (but warm) San Diego!

Lates,

Mish

P.S.  It's still raining!  :-)

Ocean Notes:

1)      Not sure why I haven’t posted about Wildcoast yet but this group does a lot of great work to help keep our coastline clean.  They work mostly in the southern end of the county along the border and have Chapters thoughout Baja California. They’re sponsoring a beach cleanup this weekend down in the Tijuana Slough Wildlife Refuge. Check ‘em out and lend them a hand!  It’s your ocean too!

2)    And while we’re on the topic of ocean protection why not check out CoastKeeper’s beach clean up calendar?

3)    Don’t worry I’m not forgetting Surfrider San Diego!  Their advocacy work has led to the protection of many great SD County surf breaks…not to mention great events like the V Elements Festival in April.  What’s that?  Click here and find out!

4)    Surfline and Waterways Surf Adventures are sponsoring a contest for best user-submitted travel slideshow.  Here's  the latest from Baja…fun sliders and some ripping surf! 

5)    I’ll send on a super surfy note… Pipeline Perfection.

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with February 20, 2013.

www.saltwatertides.com

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

W   20     High   5:25 AM     4.5   6:27 AM     Set  2:41 AM      68

    20      Low  12:43 PM     0.2   5:39 PM    Rise  1:14 PM

    20     High   7:22 PM     3.3

    20      Low  11:59 PM     2.1

Th  21     High   6:10 AM     4.9   6:26 AM     Set  3:25 AM      76

    21      Low   1:11 PM    -0.1   5:40 PM    Rise  2:07 PM

    21     High   7:41 PM     3.6

F   22      Low  12:39 AM     1.7   6:24 AM     Set  4:06 AM      84

    22     High   6:48 AM     5.2   5:41 PM    Rise  3:02 PM

    22      Low   1:38 PM    -0.4

    22     High   8:01 PM     3.9

Sa  23      Low   1:15 AM     1.4   6:23 AM     Set  4:45 AM      90

    23     High   7:24 AM     5.3   5:41 PM    Rise  3:59 PM

    23      Low   2:04 PM    -0.6

    23     High   8:24 PM     4.1

Su  24      Low   1:49 AM     1.1   6:22 AM     Set  5:21 AM      95

    24     High   7:58 AM     5.4   5:42 PM    Rise  4:58 PM

    24      Low   2:30 PM    -0.6

    24     High   8:49 PM     4.4