Rain and then waves!

Alrighty then!  I hope everyone had a spectacular Thanksgiving holiday, caught a few waves and weren’t stuck in a snowstorm or airport for too long!  We’re looking at a big change in weather this week but also some surf.  Monday will kick off the week with small knee/waist high surf around most of So Cal with rain expected Monday night.  Tuesday isn’t looking much better with small knee high SW windswell moving in with more rain expected all day but light winds.  Tuesday night and into Wed a new swell out of the WNW with some SW windswell moves into So Cal and surf picks up from waist high at dawn (poo patrol after all that rain) to about chest high in SD and waist high in OC/LA. Thursday will see more straight W short period (i.e. consistent) groundswell with HH/OH waves by midday in SD and more waist high with occasional chest high surf farther north.  Swell peaks midday and backs off fairly quickly through the second half of the day and Friday. Friday will see chest high surf in the morning with waist high surf by sunset.  Saturday and Sunday aren’t looking all that promising with knee/waist high surf.  Don’t fret however as it looks like there are more storms brewing and the jet stream is sending them our way.  Most of the storms have a significant amount of west in them which means closed out beach breaks for the west facing beaches and a bit better shape at the reefs and point breaks.

Weather is the big news this week as we prepare for a pretty good sized dose of much needed rain in So Cal.  Mostly clear skies and sunshine on Monday lead to showers Monday night, heavier showers Tuesday and Tuesday night and lighter showers again on Wed, Wed night and potentially Thursday as well.  Luckily this is a relatively warm storm as the low pressure system is dragging the moisture up from the south (“Pineapple Express”) so daytime temps will be in the high 60s still and nighttime temps will be in the low 50s.  Winds will be relatively light to moderate out of the E and then SW as the storm rolls through Tues.  Water temps are still in the mid to high 60s but I expect that to change a bit as the swell and stormwater cool things off.  Tides are super high for the dawn patrol session and drain out all morning to a near zero low tide midday as we approach the full moon on Friday. 

All of this rain is good news for California’s horrendous drought but bad news for water quality.  With the buildup of “junk” in the stormdrains and on the city streets the flow of contaminated water into the lineups will be considerable.  Be mindful of where you surf (near lagoon or river mouths or stormdrain outlets) and give the ocean some time to process the stormwater.  At least the significant amount of swell will help mix it all up but be smart and don’t surf in poo! 

Have a great rainy week with some swell late!

Stay wet (and healthy) So Cal!

Mish

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with December 1, 2014.

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

M    1     High   5:01 AM     5.3   6:34 AM     Set  1:31 AM      65

     1      Low  11:37 AM     0.8   4:43 PM    Rise  1:36 PM

     1     High   5:33 PM     3.9

     1      Low  11:09 PM     1.0

Tu   2     High   5:44 AM     5.8   6:35 AM     Set  2:34 AM      76

     2      Low  12:29 PM     0.1   4:42 PM    Rise  2:16 PM

     2     High   6:36 PM     4.0

     2      Low  11:56 PM     1.2

W    3     High   6:25 AM     6.2   6:35 AM     Set  3:37 AM      84

     3      Low   1:15 PM    -0.5   4:42 PM    Rise  2:58 PM

     3     High   7:30 PM     4.0

Th   4      Low  12:40 AM     1.4   6:36 AM     Set  4:39 AM      91

     4     High   7:03 AM     6.3   4:42 PM    Rise  3:42 PM

     4      Low   1:57 PM    -0.8

     4     High   8:17 PM     4.0

F    5      Low   1:21 AM     1.5   6:37 AM     Set  5:39 AM      96

     5     High   7:40 AM     6.4   4:42 PM    Rise  4:30 PM

     5      Low   2:37 PM    -1.0

     5     High   9:01 PM     4.0

Small but fun waves and offshore!

Happy holiday’s all!  This holiday week we’re going to have some fun surf and gorgeous weather to be thankful for.   Tuesday we’re looking at continuing NW waist/chest high waves through the day and into Wednesday.  Surf drops off through Wednesday and more so for Thanksgiving Thursday.  Waves in the waist high range for SD and knee high for OC/LA.  Friday starts off pretty small but a new NW fills in midday.  San Diego will see waist/chest by the end of the day but OC/LA won’t see much from this swell.  Surf picks up a little more Saturday in SD.  It should be more chest than waist high and the swell peaks midday.  Surf should be fun and a bit more consistent for the second half of the day.  Swell drops off a little Sunday as the swell turns a little more west with waist/chest high waves.  Monday a hiccup of windswell shows up as a prelude to the next storm swell on Tuesday.  Looks like another sizable west swell could develop but won’t show up until late next week.

Right now we’ve got a chilly Santa Ana with high pressure systems sitting east AND west of us.  Winter Santa Anas mean nice warm sunny day time temps in the high 70s along the coast and clear cold nights in the mid to high 40s.  By the weekend we’ll see cooler temps with sunny skies in high 60s.  By Monday we’re looking at low 60s and rain.  Chances of rain starting in the morning with a high chance of rain by midday through all of Tuesday and tapering off by Wed morning.  Winds are forecasted be offshore tonight through Wednesday.  Wind then calm down in the evenings and first thing in the morning and should pick up midday with mild winds.  For the rainy Monday and Tuesday winds get pretty nasty so swell will probably be a big junky mess (and traffic will be too!).  Water temps are trying to hang on in the high to mid 60s.  We’re coming off the new moon so we’re seeing some pretty high mid-morning high tides and drained out tides for the sunset sessions.

Enjoy the sunshine and fun waves for the Thanksgiving week!

Stay wet So Cal!

Mish

 

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with November 25, 2014.

www.saltwatertides.com

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

Tu  25      Low   3:48 AM     2.1   6:29 AM    Rise  9:19 AM      6

    25     High  10:07 AM     6.0   4:44 PM     Set  8:11 PM

    25      Low   5:20 PM    -0.6

W   26     High  12:00 AM     3.9   6:30 AM    Rise 10:10 AM      13

    26      Low   4:42 AM     2.4   4:43 PM     Set  9:15 PM

    26     High  10:56 AM     5.5

    26      Low   6:14 PM    -0.3

Th  27     High   1:04 AM     3.9   6:30 AM    Rise 10:56 AM      21

    27      Low   5:54 AM     2.6   4:43 PM     Set 10:20 PM

    27     High  11:57 AM     5.0

    27      Low   7:13 PM     0.0

F   28     High   2:13 AM     4.0   6:31 AM    Rise 11:39 AM      32

    28      Low   7:28 AM     2.6   4:43 PM     Set 11:24 PM

    28     High   1:16 PM     4.4

    28      Low   8:16 PM     0.3

Sa  29     High   3:17 AM     4.4   6:32 AM    Rise 12:19 PM      43

    29      Low   9:08 AM     2.2   4:43 PM

    29     High   2:47 PM     4.0

    29      Low   9:18 PM     0.6

Fun stuff on the way!

Ok, get your hall passes ready because you might just miss this next swell if you blink!  Wednesday is going to be small…very small but by the end of the day we should start to see signs of life out of the WNW from a system that’s dropping in on us for a quick visit.  Thursday morning we should see a significant pick up in wave height with HH surf at most beaches around SD, slightly smaller in OC and LA but much improved from the past few days.  Fairly consistent with HH and some OH sets through the day as the swell peaks midday and starts to drop off fairly quickly in the evening.  Friday looks like chest high waves to start the day and a second WNW pulse in the waist/chest range to close out the work week.  There’s a decent amount of W so the west facing beaches will see some closeouts.

Saturday looks smaller with waist high surf or smaller around So Cal.  Sunday another but smaller WNW moves in and delivers some waist/chest high wind-type swell.  This swell hangs out through Monday with some slightly bigger waves Monday morning.  Tuesday we’ll see a new NW groundswell fill in but the energy looks like it’s aimed a bit more south of us so we’ll only really see waist/chest high surf throughout the day.  Not a lot of big swell makers looming out there right now.  Might get kind of quiet for the rest of the Thanksgiving holiday week and into the weekend.  Stay tuned and I’ll let you know if there’s anything juicy coming up!

Weather is definitely moving towards winter as we have cooler daytime air temps in the high 60s and nighttime temps dropping into the high 40s and low 50s.  Ouch…that makes for a brisk dawn patrol!  Morning and evening marine layer make way for sunshine midday for Wed. Thursday we’ll see more clouds and chances of showers for Thursday night and thru Friday.  Luckily this “storm” won’t bring much in terms of wind so fairly glassy calm days as those swells show up.  Things warm up a bit for the middle of the Thanksgiving week but we’ll still see those chilly nighttime temps.  Water temps have dipped a degree or two and are in the high to mid-60s.  We may see a little dip as that WNW stirs up the cooler water.  We’re starting to see those early morning high tides slow things down again and the negative lows draining out in the late afternoon.  

Looks like some fun surf with pretty nice conditions (minus the 30% chance of showers Friday).  Check the tides and pick your sessions accordingly if you can!  I’m calling the Thursday mid/late morning session to be pretty fun!

Stay wet So Cal!

Mish

Ida at her Secret Spot  5 years ago…Nov. 19, 2009

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with November 18, 2014.

www.saltwatertides.com

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

Tu  18     High   6:12 AM     5.2   6:22 AM    Rise  2:37 AM      21

    18      Low  12:44 PM     0.8   4:46 PM     Set  2:32 PM

    18     High   6:44 PM     4.0

W   19      Low  12:13 AM     1.4   6:23 AM    Rise  3:33 AM      14

    19     High   6:40 AM     5.5   4:46 PM     Set  3:08 PM

    19      Low   1:18 PM     0.3

    19     High   7:25 PM     4.0

Th  20      Low  12:45 AM     1.5   6:24 AM    Rise  4:30 AM      7

    20     High   7:09 AM     5.8   4:45 PM     Set  3:47 PM

    20      Low   1:53 PM    -0.2

    20     High   8:05 PM     4.1

F   21      Low   1:18 AM     1.5   6:25 AM    Rise  5:29 AM      3

    21     High   7:39 AM     6.1   4:45 PM     Set  4:30 PM

    21      Low   2:29 PM    -0.6

    21     High   8:46 PM     4.1

Sa  22      Low   1:51 AM     1.6   6:26 AM    Rise  6:29 AM      0

    22     High   8:11 AM     6.3   4:45 PM     Set  5:17 PM

    22      Low   3:07 PM    -0.8

    22     High   9:28 PM     4.0

Get on it!

Quick update...swell's actually on the rise and it's offshore early.  Tide's is on it's way out for the dawn patrol.  Should be fun and more sizable that originally forecasted.  

See ya at the beach!

Stay wet SoCal!

Mish

Small WNW heading our way...

Aloha!  We’re seeing the tail end of a smaller NW swell in the water.  The good news is that there’s a macking swell hitting Hawaii and the season opener for Pipeline, Waimea and Jaws.  The not-so-good news is that the bulk of the energy is going to miss So Cal as it’s aimed more south of us.   Wednesday will see smaller surf in the knee to waist high range with a hint of left over south swell at the better summer spots.  Thursday we should see a bump up in size as the energy from that WNW groundswell shows up with some waist/chest sets by evening.  Friday will see the majority of the swell.  I’m really not expecting much from this…waist/chest with a few stand out shoulder high sets at the best winter breaks later in the day Friday.  Saturday and Sunday the swell backs off and we’ll see waist high surf throughout the weekend.  Size dips Monday and then a bit of windswell kicks in late Monday and thru Tuesday as a little low pressure system moves into town.  We could see some showers from that but if there’s waves we’ll take it!   Things get a bit quiet in both hemispheres for awhile.  The northern hemi has a few small fairly gutless storms moving across the latitudes but I’m not seeing anything significant develop out of them.  Patience.

Weather wise we are definitely moving into late Fall and Winter.  We have cooler air temps in the high 60s for daytime (I love that we call that Fall/Winter temps!) and mid50s at night.  Chances of drizzle tonight, Wed and Thurs night/Fri.  The best chance for showers is actually next Tues and into Wed.  We’ll have a slight warming trend for the weekend before it cools down a little again.  Boy I hope we get some showers because we NEED THAT WATER!  Winds remain light with some light SW winds tomorrow and otherwise calm in the evenings and out of the N/NW by midday.  Looks like we’ll see mostly clouds until the weekend when we’ll see a bit more sunshine.  Tides are fairly flat during the day this week.  Water temps still in the high 60s though so that’s a bonus!

Make the most out of what WNW we get and enjoy the weather!  You could be stuck in Michigan’s deep freeze!

Stay wet So Cal!

Mish

Jeannette Prince sliding on a sunny day at Swamis.

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with November 12, 2014.

www.saltwatertides.com

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

W   12     High   1:41 AM     3.6   6:17 AM     Set 11:07 AM      75

    12      Low   6:06 AM     3.0   4:50 PM    Rise 10:11 PM

    12     High  12:01 PM     4.4

    12      Low   7:31 PM     0.8

Th  13     High   3:03 AM     3.7   6:18 AM     Set 11:45 AM      66

    13      Low   7:41 AM     3.1   4:49 PM    Rise 11:04 PM

    13     High   1:12 PM     4.0

    13      Low   8:34 PM     1.1

F   14     High   4:06 AM     3.9   6:19 AM     Set 12:20 PM      57

    14      Low   9:26 AM     2.9   4:48 PM    Rise 11:57 PM

    14     High   2:39 PM     3.7

    14      Low   9:33 PM     1.2

Sa  15     High   4:47 AM     4.2   6:20 AM     Set 12:53 PM      48

    15      Low  10:41 AM     2.4   4:48 PM

    15     High   4:01 PM     3.6

    15      Low  10:23 PM     1.3

Su  16     High   5:18 AM     4.5   6:21 AM    Rise 12:50 AM      38

    16      Low  11:31 AM     1.9   4:47 PM     Set  1:26 PM

    16     High   5:07 PM     3.7

    16      Low  11:04 PM     1.3

Where'd the swell go? Give it time...

Howdy!  Santa Anas, 80 degree daytime temps and 69 degree water…what more could you want? Oh, right…waves.  Well, the prognosis for the immediate future is not ideal but the long term forecast is looking up.  For the next week we’re looking at new SW swell for Friday in the waist high range at the better summer spots (Yes, I know it’s November!).  Then some NW windswell makes it way into town for Sat and Sun with swell in the knee/waist high range in SD but smaller in OC and LA.  Late Sun and thru Mon we’ll see knee high waves.  Tuesday things pick up a bit with some new NW groundswell.  This isn’t all that big with waves in the waist high with chest high sets for the day. For Wed I’ve seen mixed models. Some say not much swell for Wed/Thursday but others say we’ll see the start of some nice WNW groundswell.  The focus is more on the Hawaiian Island and the Baja Peninsula but SD should see some fun waves pick up from that Aleutian system.  I’ll call it at chest/head high for late Wed and into Thursday.  Things back down Friday and quiet down for a bit.  No monster swells on the way as far as I can tell.  Northern hemi is looking more active as the southern hemi starts to quiet down as they roll into summer.

I guess the good news is that at least the weather is going to be sunny and nice.  The Santa Anas will start to break down through the weekend with air temps in the mid-70s for most of the weekend and low 70s to start the week. Much cooler sleeping temps in the mid to low 50s with clear skies and plenty of moonshine at night and sunshine during the day.  A bit more marine layer moves in Sunday night and into Monday but burns off for sunshine by midday.  Winds are offshore for the dawn patrols and switch to SW/W winds by late morning and remain a little breezy for the afternoon before the evening glassoff.  Water temps in the high 60s still for most of So Cal.  Tides are swinging big time right now as we have a GORGEOUS full moon tonight.  My favorite moon is the November Dawn Patrol moonset over the water.  Huge morning high tides slowing the tiny swell way down and drained out late afternoon lows making for great tidepool conditions especially for the wee ones!  Not a drop of rain in site!  For the latest update on the El Nino (or lack thereof) from NOAA check out:

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.html

Not a lot of macking surf in the future but some ripples to keep you in the water for when the big stuff hits!

Stay wet So Cal!

Mish

In case you missed the Green Flash sunsets lately...

here's one for you from October 24th in Cardiff.

 

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with November 7, 2014.

www.saltwatertides.com

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

F    7      Low   2:20 AM     1.3   6:12 AM     Set  6:52 AM      99

     7     High   8:36 AM     6.4   4:53 PM    Rise  5:50 PM

     7      Low   3:25 PM    -0.9

     7     High   9:48 PM     4.3

Sa   8      Low   2:57 AM     1.6   6:13 AM     Set  7:52 AM      98

     8     High   9:12 AM     6.3   4:52 PM    Rise  6:40 PM

     8      Low   4:07 PM    -0.7

     8     High  10:36 PM     4.0

Su   9      Low   3:34 AM     2.0   6:14 AM     Set  8:48 AM      95

     9     High   9:49 AM     5.9   4:52 PM    Rise  7:31 PM

     9      Low   4:51 PM    -0.4

     9     High  11:28 PM     3.8

M   10      Low   4:14 AM     2.4   6:15 AM     Set  9:39 AM      90

    10     High  10:27 AM     5.4   4:51 PM    Rise  8:24 PM

    10      Low   5:39 PM     0.0

Tu  11     High  12:28 AM     3.6   6:16 AM     Set 10:25 AM      83

    11      Low   5:01 AM     2.7   4:50 PM    Rise  9:17 PM

    11     High  11:09 AM     5.0

    11      Low   6:31 PM     0.5