Plenty more surf on the way!

We’re getting some much needed rain but we’re also getting some much needed thumping waves with howling offshore winds!  Not too shabby!  We’re seeing the back end of this last NW groundswell on Wednesday.  Still plenty of juice left for most of the day.  The day will kick off with waves in the HH/OH range for SD and shoulder/HH in OC and a bit smaller for LA.   We’re looking at shoulder/HH by nightfall and into Thurs morning.  Waist/chest high and fairly messy windswell type waves for Friday before picking up slightly with a new NW on Saturday.  Waves in the waist/chest range and should be cleaning up a bit with less windswell in it.  Late Sat and early Sun is when we’ll see the NW pick up a bit more with shoulder/HH waves by late Sun morning and through most of the day.  Swell peaks midday and drops off to chest high for Monday and Tues.  Christmas Eve starts off about the same size but we should see the precursors of the next really good swell.  This looks like it should have some nice powerful long period sets rolling in later in the day on Christmas Eve.  It looks like Santa will be delivering some potentially sizable waves on Christmas Day!  That’s still a ways away so I’ll fill you in on how that looks later this weekend.

As for the weather we’re still looking at more rain as the jet stream continues to throw storms at California and the warm water keeps dragging the moisture rich Pineapple Express up from the south.  This last storm is a bit cooler but is still delivering more of the much needed H2O that California needs.  More scattered heavy showers tonight and thru Wednesday and slight chances of showers for early Wed night.  Clearing Thurs and Fri with the next slight chance of showers Fri night and thru Sat.  Skies clear and warm up Sunday and into the next week. 

The long-term forecast puts a 50% chance of showers for late Christmas Eve and half way thru the holiday.  Air temps in the low 60s thru Sat, high 60s/low 70s thru Wed before that next system comes in and cools things down for Christmas Day.  Winds look to get a little gusty overnight, calm thru the day but blow out of the south and pick up in the evening out of the south.  Light to moderate south and east winds for Thursday with slightly more light/moderate onshore W winds for Friday.  Water temps are incredibly warm still with 64 the norm around San Diego and still low 60s for OC and some high 50s around LA.  This is definitely helping keep the moisture content up in these storms.  As we approach the new moon we’re coming up on the typical Xmas super night tides for the dawn patrollers and more drained out conditions for the midday/early afternoon sessions.

Lots going on in the ocean of ours!  Hope you’re enjoying the waves but being smart about where you surf after the significant rainfall.

Stay wet and stay healthy So Cal!

Mish

 

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with December 17, 2014.

www.saltwatertides.com

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

W   17     High   5:29 AM     5.1   6:46 AM    Rise  2:15 AM      28

    17      Low  12:25 PM     0.7   4:45 PM     Set  1:41 PM

    17     High   6:27 PM     3.3

    17      Low  11:29 PM     1.7

Th  18     High   6:04 AM     5.5   6:46 AM    Rise  3:13 AM      19

    18      Low   1:02 PM     0.0   4:46 PM     Set  2:21 PM

    18     High   7:14 PM     3.5

F   19      Low  12:11 AM     1.7   6:47 AM    Rise  4:12 AM      12

    19     High   6:40 AM     5.9   4:46 PM     Set  3:06 PM

    19      Low   1:39 PM    -0.5

    19     High   7:57 PM     3.8

Sa  20      Low  12:51 AM     1.6   6:47 AM    Rise  5:12 AM      6

    20     High   7:16 AM     6.2   4:46 PM     Set  3:57 PM

    20      Low   2:17 PM    -1.0

    20     High   8:38 PM     3.9

Su  21      Low   1:32 AM     1.6   6:48 AM    Rise  6:12 AM      1

    21     High   7:55 AM     6.4   4:47 PM     Set  4:54 PM

    21      Low   2:55 PM    -1.3

    21     High   9:19 PM     4.0

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

Late season SW fun on the way!

How fun was that?  Hope you all got a little taste of that NW swell!  Great conditions if you hit it on the right tide.  That swell is just about pooped out with a few leftovers with a ton of NW wind swell now on top of it.  Luckily there are the very beginnings of the next SW groundswell just starting to show on the buoys.   Thursday will see mostly the NW wind swell in the waist high range.  By the end of the day we’ll a bit more NW wind swell but size will pickup into the waist/chest range.  Friday the NW wind swell will continue with waist/chest high waves and more background SW groundswell in the waist/chest range with some slightly bigger sets at the better south facing beaches.  That south peaks through the night Friday and into Sat. Sat morning surf should be pretty fun with much less NW wind swell and mostly SW groundswell.  Size holds in the chest/shoulder high range for the day and into Sunday. Size drops a little Sunday…waist/chest and then waist with chest high sets to kick off the work week on Monday.  Waist high by Tuesday.  Wednesday it looks like the small stuff starts off the day but another SW groundswell starts to fill in.  Looks like the Southern Hemi is spitting out some pretty nice swell because there’s more SW groundswell on its way!

Funky Fall weather continues as we have a low pressure system cruising through town tonight, teeny chance of drizzle overnight and into Thursday morning then sunshine with a few clouds.  A little patchy marine layer later in the day and into Friday then clear skies as a Santa Ana sets up.  You know what that means…dry sunny skies, howling offshore winds and HOT weather for the weekend! Air temps in the high 60s Thurs but high 70s starting Friday and  low 80s through the weekend.  It also means so cool dry nighttime temps in the high 50s…brrrrrrrrr!  Should be pretty awesome out with the clear skies and full moon Saturday night (hmmmmmm, and swell peaking Friday night…interesting!).  Water temps in the high 60s around most of the County with cooler temps south of Pt. Loma…Coronado area to IB.  Expect some major water temp cooling after those howling offshores this weekend.  Enjoy the warm water while you can!

We’ll I think we’re in for some fun late SW groundswell as those Santa Anas kick in this weekend!

Stay wet San Diego and remember to share!

Mish

Ocean Notes:

1)      Mais ous!  Check out the rockin’ Hossegor waves going on right now for the Quicksilver Pro.

2)    Just wanted to share one of my favorite spots to shoot surf pics.  Can anyone guess where it is?  Thanks Magic Seaweed!

3)    Things are heating up in Tahiti but not in a good way.  Locals vs. Nonlocals.  This could get ugly AND dangerous!  

4)    On a more positive note check out this awesome documentary photography by Joni Sternbach.  She uses a 19^th-Century lens and creates some really neat photos of modern day surfers.

 

 Devon Howard setting up for the Green Room 

January 2010

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with October 3, 2013.

www.saltwatertides.com

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

Th   3      Low   2:29 AM     0.6   6:45 AM    Rise  5:26 AM      5

     3     High   8:46 AM     5.3   6:31 PM     Set  5:41 PM

     3      Low   2:53 PM     0.5

     3     High   9:00 PM     5.2

F    4      Low   2:56 AM     0.7   6:46 AM    Rise  6:25 AM      1

     4     High   9:12 AM     5.6   6:29 PM     Set  6:17 PM

     4      Low   3:29 PM     0.2

     4     High   9:38 PM     5.1

Sa   5      Low   3:25 AM     0.8   6:46 AM    Rise  7:26 AM      0

     5     High   9:41 AM     5.9   6:28 PM     Set  6:55 PM

     5      Low   4:07 PM    -0.1

     5     High  10:19 PM     4.8

Su   6      Low   3:54 AM     1.1   6:47 AM    Rise  8:29 AM      0

     6     High  10:12 AM     6.0   6:27 PM     Set  7:38 PM

     6      Low   4:49 PM    -0.2

     6     High  11:03 PM     4.4

M    7      Low   4:25 AM     1.5   6:48 AM    Rise  9:32 AM      4

     7     High  10:46 AM     6.0   6:26 PM     Set  8:25 PM

     7      Low   5:36 PM    -0.1

     7     High  11:54 PM     4.0