Winter swell is upon us!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAll aboard!!!  Hop on because the swell train is coming!  By Tuesday morning we’re looking at the beginning of a week of great winter swell.  The tricky part will be the weather and how it plays into the whole picture.  The biggest stuff will be in the southern end in SD with OC and LA picking up swell but a few feet smaller than San Diego especially on the biggest days. 

For Tuesday we’re looking at WNW chest/shoulder high surf around most of So Cal.  The next NW swell fills in Wednesday with some shoulder/HH surf and an overhead set at the better spots.  The swell holds thru the day and is backed up on Thursday by yet another NW swell with a bit more angle so SD will see a bit more swell than OC and LA.  Still plenty of surf in the HH/OH range for Thursday and thru Friday.  The juiciest stuff starts to roll in late Friday with long period swell showing in the evening.  These sets will jump up as the swell (and potentially a decent storm) fills in overnight.  The late Friday waves are looking to be a few feet overhead and by Saturday morning we’ll see WNW waves in the 10-13’ face range in San Diego and a few feet OH in OC and LA.  Lots of west in this big swell so plenty of waves at all breaks with a lot of closeouts at the west facing beaches.  The swell peaks late morning/midday with potentially double overhead sets at the best winter breaks in SD.  By Sunday we’re looking at a backing off swell but still plenty of waves in the OH range for SD and HH+ range for OC/LA.  Monday the swell is back down to the HH range as we pause to take a quick break and rest our arms.  The good news is that there’s another storm that looks like it’s going to sent more WNW our way for that next Tues/Wed.   

Weather is the big question mark in the sky!  It could be a major spoiler later in the week as a very large storm makes landfall on California.  The first part of the week will see some patchy dense fog in the morning and evening with some clearing midday Tuesday and Wednesday.  Fog makes way to clouds for Wed night and Thursday but by Thursday night the rain is forecasted to hit late in the night/early Fri morning and be heavy at times.  The worst news is the winds that are forecasted to hit along with the storm.  That massive swell will most likely be a blown out mess with 20-30mph winds throughout So Cal Thursday night thru Friday.  Rain and winds looks to tapers off late Fri night but I’m thinking that conditions aren’t going to be too ideal Sat AM.  Sat and Sun clear up significantly so hopefully by late Sat and Sun the remnants of that big swell will be ridable.  Air temps will remain in the 60s with high 60s thru Thurs and then low 60s for Fri at that storm moves thru and then warming back into the high 60s for the weekend.  Tides will be on the move for the next few days and then flatten out as we progress into the weekend.  A tide push into the medium high mid-morning drains out to a near zero low by sundown.   Water temps in the mid-60s and I expect that to drop a few degrees with this next storm and big swell.

Have a fantastic week and enjoy all the fun surf before that next storm rolls thru town!

Stay wet but stay healthy for the holidays So Cal!  If you're reading this from Hawaii or headed there soon you're stoked as the Waimea buoy is starting to build with 8' @18 seconds!  Oweeee!

Mish

A few to wet your appetite…Jan. 14, 2010… 

(Photos © Mishfish Photography)

 Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with December 9, 2014.

www.saltwatertides.com
Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

Tu   9      Low   3:54 AM     2.2   6:40 AM     Set  9:02 AM      94

     9     High  10:02 AM     5.4   4:43 PM    Rise  8:00 PM

     9      Low   5:08 PM    -0.3

     9     High  11:52 PM     3.8

W   10      Low   4:37 AM     2.5   6:41 AM     Set  9:42 AM      89

    10     High  10:39 AM     5.0   4:43 PM    Rise  8:53 PM

    10      Low   5:48 PM     0.1

Th  11     High  12:42 AM     3.7   6:42 AM     Set 10:18 AM      82

    11      Low   5:29 AM     2.7   4:43 PM    Rise  9:46 PM

    11     High  11:19 AM     4.5

    11      Low   6:30 PM     0.5

F   12     High   1:37 AM     3.7   6:42 AM     Set 10:52 AM      74

    12      Low   6:38 AM     2.8   4:43 PM    Rise 10:39 PM

    12     High  12:08 PM     4.0

    12      Low   7:16 PM     0.9

Sa  13     High   2:34 AM     3.9   6:43 AM     Set 11:25 AM      65

    13      Low   8:08 AM     2.8   4:44 PM    Rise 11:32 PM

    13     High   1:17 PM     3.5

    13      Low   8:07 PM     1.2