More rain then more swell!

Surf picking up a tad Tuesday with some new NW shorter period groundswell and some left over W swell.  Surf in the waist high range around most of town with a few standouts at the better winter spots.  Weather is gonna be a damper though as howling winds and more rain blanket the coast.  Wednesday looks like a significant bump up in size with new NW wind swell and slightly cleaner conditions most likely later in the day.  Size jumps into the shoulder/HH range, short period and peaking midday but holding some decent size for early Thursday in the chest/shoulder range.  Friday starts off in the smaller waist high range but some longer period NW groundswell will start to fill in midday. We won’t really see size pickup until Saturday morning though with some decent energy coming our way and waves in the chest/shoulder range.  The bulk of this swell is actually aimed more at the NE side if Hawaii.  They should get hit dead on by that one!  We’ll see plenty of surf through the holiday weekend in the shoulder/HH range, peaking on Monday morning.  It even looks like Santa might deliver more NW for Christmas Day…but that’s still a ways off.  For now we’ll just stick with the nice NW groundswell for the weekend and into the first part of the week.

Weather will be a big factor with showers late tonight and all day Wed.  We’ll also see some significant winds blowing all day Tues…starting out of the SW and then out of the W for the rest of the afternoon. Wed things calm down with mild to moderate winds out of the N and then E through the night as we see a little Santa Ana type weather (minus the heat).  Mostly sunny Thurs and Fri but nighttime air temps are the big news…COLD.  Low 60s by day but low 40s and high 30s for Tues and Wed night…then back into the mid40s for the rest of the week.  Those dawn patrols are gonna be downright chilly!  Bust out the booties!  Clouds are back Sat and showers are back for Sunday along with some S and W wings.  Tides are fairly moderate through the daylight hours this week with medium lows mid-morning and medium highs in the mid-afternoon.  We start to see more extremes for the weekend though.  Water quality is always a concern this time of year and we’ve had some really significant rain.  Be smart about where you surf and where the lagoon/river mouths and stormdrains are. 

My calls for surf are Thurs AM and Saturday.  Git it!

Mish

Ocean Notes:

1)       PARKP PARKO PARKO!  Pipemaster Parko we’ll call him!  Sorry Slates…2012 just wasn’t meant to be yours! More glorious Parko footage!

2)       And the Triple Crown goes to...(drum roll please)…Seabasss Zietz!  Check out the story with all the details of his victory!

3)      Still looking for that last minute green gift?  Why not get a GREEN GIFT?  Try one of these cool house plant suggestions from Treehugger!

4)      One last Earth friendly note for the holidays… How to Have a Green Holiday... take a look…one or two tips in there that might have passed you by!  

Remember, that “first flush” of rain is the worst!  Give it some time before getting back in the water!

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with December 19, 2012.

www.saltwatertides.com

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

W   19     High   2:17 AM     4.4   6:47 AM    Rise 11:19 AM      36

    19      Low   8:18 AM     2.1   4:46 PM     Set 11:56 PM

    19     High   1:53 PM     3.7

    19      Low   8:15 PM     0.9

Th  20     High   3:16 AM     4.6   6:48 AM    Rise 11:52 AM      46

    20      Low   9:56 AM     1.7   4:47 PM

    20     High   3:28 PM     3.2

    20      Low   9:12 PM     1.4

F   21     High   4:11 AM     4.8   6:48 AM     Set 12:52 AM      56

    21      Low  11:16 AM     1.3   4:47 PM    Rise 12:25 PM

    21     High   5:06 PM     3.0

    21      Low  10:09 PM     1.7

Sa  22     High   4:58 AM     5.1   6:48 AM     Set  1:48 AM      66

    22      Low  12:12 PM     0.7   4:48 PM    Rise 12:59 PM

    22     High   6:23 PM     3.1

    22      Low  11:02 PM     1.9

Su  23     High   5:39 AM     5.2   6:49 AM     Set  2:42 AM      74

    23      Low  12:54 PM     0.2   4:48 PM    Rise  1:36 PM

    23     High   7:17 PM     3.3

    23      Low  11:47 PM     2.1

Get on it Wed before the storm!

Just a quick update…get your surf on Wed…rain on the way!  A little bump up in size Wed before the low pressure system moves in and rain and wind make a mess of things.  We’re just looking at new waist high out of the NW and clean with light winds turning south in the afternoon.  Look for showers after 4pm.  Rain all night Wed with gusty south winds really picking up all night.  Rain and thunderstorms throughout the day Thursday and tapering off in the afternoon.  Winds tapering off into the afternoon as well but still blowing a little out of the S.  Still a chance of showers Thurs and then…ironically mostly sunny Friday…but cold!  More chances of showers again over the weekend.  Friday the water will be “poopafied” but there will be some new NW with a new SW filling in for the latter part of the day. Surf in the waist with the occasional chest high set at south facing beaches later in the day.  Also, BIG tide swings will really be affecting the surf with a mega high for the early morning session draining out quickly to a super negative low for the midafternoon session.  That means midday should be juuuuuuuuuuuuust about right!

More updates Thursday…if I’m not out stuck sampling stormwater all night!  (yup, it’s my job!)

Stay healthy everyone…lots of sick bugs going around!

Lates,

Mish

Ocean Notes:

1)       Just gonna focus on the Billabong Pro at Pipe today…here are some clips of some of the days best waves…tooooobs! Sick barrels from Day One! Aaaaaaaaand sick barrels from Day Two!  Man the competition is FIERCE!!!

   

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with December 12, 2012.

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

W   12      Low   1:05 AM     1.6   6:43 AM    Rise  5:53 AM      3

    12     High   7:31 AM     7.0   4:44 PM     Set  4:24 PM

    12      Low   2:35 PM    -1.7

    12     High   9:00 PM     4.1

Th  13      Low   1:53 AM     1.6   6:43 AM    Rise  6:57 AM      0

    13     High   8:16 AM     7.0   4:44 PM     Set  5:30 PM

    13      Low   3:21 PM    -1.8

    13     High   9:49 PM     4.1

F   14      Low   2:42 AM     1.6   6:44 AM    Rise  7:56 AM      0

    14     High   9:03 AM     6.9   4:44 PM     Set  6:39 PM

    14      Low   4:07 PM    -1.7

    14     High  10:37 PM     4.2

Sa  15      Low   3:34 AM     1.7   6:45 AM    Rise  8:47 AM      3

    15     High   9:51 AM     6.5   4:45 PM     Set  7:47 PM

    15      Low   4:53 PM    -1.4

    15     High  11:28 PM     4.2

Su  16      Low   4:29 AM     1.8   6:45 AM    Rise  9:31 AM      9

    16     High  10:40 AM     5.9   4:45 PM     Set  8:53 PM

    16      Low   5:41 PM    -0.9

Funky weather and swell coming up

Aloha all!  We’ve got lingering NW wind swell with a hint of background SW groundswell.  Surf mostly in the thigh to waist range with the rare bellybutton high set.  Sunday will see less of both the NW windswell and SW swell.  Monday looks to start pretty small with a small SW groundswell filling in through the second half of the day to put waves in the waist high range through Tuesday.  Late Tues and into Wednesday we’re looking at a new NW groundswell.  Not a lot of juice in this one.  The storms producing these swells just aren’t packing a punch like we want them too and the Jet Stream is carrying them out of our swell window.  Surf in the waist high range for Wed and the start of Thurs.  That swell fades through the day as we potentially have some wet weather. Then, Friday, we’re looking at some WNW windswell that will actually boost surf into the chest/shoulder high range for a day.  Saturday it looks like we may have some new WNW groundswell but again, that Jet Steam is pushing everything right up and out of our swell window.  Looks like a chance of showers next weekend too!

The near future forecast advisory is calling for dense fog throughout the county tonight and for a good part of Sunday.  Mild winds for the start of the day with strong north winds picking up Sunday night and a mild Santa Ana becoming gusty out of the NE for Monday.  That means clear skies for Mon and Tues with air temps back into the high 60s./low 70s.  Then right back where we came from with increasing clouds Wed and a chance of showers Wed night and into Thurs.  Cloudy Fri/Sat and low 60s then more showers for next Sun.  We’re also looking at some chilly nighttime temps in the high 40s.  Definitely a sign of winter eh?  Water’s actually feeling kinda nice still…low 60s around most of town.  We’re going to start seeing some pretty extreme tides this week with the new moon on Thursday night.    Pretty full early morning high tides draining out to an mid-afternoon REALLY negative low tide.

Some little fun dribblers out there with some funky warm then cold weather on the way.

Stay wet San Diego!

Mish

Ocean Notes:

1)       Just one for today…I’m pooped.  Pipemasters is ON!  8-10’…nothing huge but when the pros are on it they rock the house.  Check out Day One or watch it LIVE!  Good stuff!

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with December 9, 2012.

www.saltwatertides.com

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

Su   9     High   5:20 AM     5.7   6:41 AM    Rise  2:28 AM      26

     9      Low  12:16 PM     0.1   4:43 PM     Set  1:45 PM

     9     High   6:24 PM     3.6

     9      Low  11:28 PM     1.6

M   10     High   6:03 AM     6.3   6:41 AM    Rise  3:36 AM      17

    10      Low   1:03 PM    -0.7   4:43 PM     Set  2:31 PM

    10     High   7:20 PM     3.8

Tu  11      Low  12:17 AM     1.6   6:42 AM    Rise  4:45 AM      9

    11     High   6:46 AM     6.6   4:43 PM     Set  3:24 PM

    11      Low   1:49 PM    -1.4

    11     High   8:12 PM     4.0

W   12      Low   1:05 AM     1.6   6:43 AM    Rise  5:53 AM      3

    12     High   7:31 AM     7.0   4:44 PM     Set  4:24 PM

    12      Low   2:35 PM    -1.7

    12     High   9:00 PM     4.1

Th  13      Low   1:53 AM     1.6   6:43 AM    Rise  6:57 AM      0

    13     High   8:16 AM     7.0   4:44 PM     Set  5:30 PM

    13      Low   3:21 PM    -1.8

    13     High   9:49 PM     4.1

No crowds...less surf...more on the way!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarg matey!  Some smaller surf this week but don’t fret.  We’ll see a little NW wind swell Thursday with some waist high waves and a bit more NW groundswell for Friday in the waist/chest range.  Things will peak late Friday night so Saturday is starting in the waist/chest range with fading surf through the day and Sunday.  Back into the knee/waist high range by the end of Sunday.  We’ll see a hint of background south swell Fri/Sat but the NW will dominate.  Monday it looks like we’ll see some weak WNW to keep things barely alive and in the knee/waist high range.  Size will hold for Tuesday but a couple of storms in both hemispheres look like they should throw us some fun surf.  That’ll start with some SW late Monday and then some NW groundswell picking up around Wed.  The jet stream is pushing the Northern Hemi storms north so they’re not having as much time to build momentum…we like momentum!  Of course, that’s also making for some nice weather down our way.  I’d rather have clouds and swell than sun and no surf.  How about you?

Speaking of sun…we’ll have a cloudy and possibly drizzly day Thursday with clouds and patchy fog for Friday.  A bit more sunshine for Sat and mostly sunny and warming up for Sunday. Mid 60s for the work week and some mid to upper 60s for the weekend and into the start of next week.  Clearer skies towards the end of the weekend will make for some chilly nights!  Winds don’t look like they’ll be a factor for the next 5 days with very light winds if any at all throughout the day.  Mild SE or calm at night and light west by midday.  Tides are pretty mellow through the daylight hours with a bit more water movement as we hit the weekend and into next week.  By Saturday and Sunday we’ll have some bigger morning high tides draining out to near or negative low tides midday.  Water temps are still pretty nice though...maybe dropped a degree or two…high 50s to low 60s around town.

Looks like some smaller but decent surf in the next few days.  Hit a beach break for the most short board action I’m guessing…or log it at a reef.   Just stay wet!

I’m out!

Mish

Ocean Notes:

1)       If you haven’t finished your holiday shopping you can still get in on the good…the green goods that is!  Our friends at Treehugger have provided suggestions for everyone on your list…foodie, kiddie, techie, and of course the treehugger!  And if there is someone who just has everything…check here for something unusual but useful from Uncommon Goods!

2)      Looking for things to do over the next few weeks to get you in the holiday mood…besides spending a billion dollars at a shopping mall?  Check out this local holiday calendar for all the holiday happenings around town.  December Nights in Balboa Park is this weekend too!  Parades…ice skating…tree lighting…how could you NOT be festive?  Festivus with the rest of us!  

3)      Heads up!  That drizzle we had down here last weekend was a whopper of a storm up north and that translates into SNOW for Mammoth. The whole mountain is open this weekend after 4-6’ of beautiful powpow fell last week.

4)      Yes, I was looking forward to seeing all the pics from last weekend’s swell…ask and ye shall receive!  Thank you Surfline!

5)      And of course there are bound to be countless videos from this last swell that lit up California… here's one of them!   

6)      And what would a WNW swell be without pics from the North Shore?

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with December 6, 2012.

www.saltwatertides.com

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

Th   6     High   3:07 AM     4.1   6:38 AM     Set 11:52 AM      58

     6      Low   9:06 AM     2.4   4:43 PM

     6     High   2:23 PM     3.5

     6      Low   8:48 PM     1.1

F    7     High   3:54 AM     4.6   6:39 AM    Rise 12:20 AM      47

     7      Low  10:24 AM     1.7   4:43 PM     Set 12:26 PM

     7     High   3:57 PM     3.3

     7      Low   9:43 PM     1.3

Sa   8     High   4:37 AM     5.2   6:40 AM    Rise  1:23 AM      37

     8      Low  11:25 AM     0.9   4:43 PM     Set  1:04 PM

     8     High   5:18 PM     3.4

     8      Low  10:37 PM     1.5

Su   9     High   5:20 AM     5.7   6:41 AM    Rise  2:28 AM      26

     9      Low  12:16 PM     0.1   4:43 PM     Set  1:45 PM

     9     High   6:24 PM     3.6

     9      Low  11:28 PM     1.6

M   10     High   6:03 AM     6.3   6:41 AM    Rise  3:36 AM      17

    10      Low   1:03 PM    -0.7   4:43 PM     Set  2:31 PM

    10     High   7:20 PM     3.8

Leftovers in the HH range with more swell all week

Yeehaw!  What a crazy weekend of surf!  It was a smidge crowded in some spots but lots of waves and lots and lots of size!  We’re seeing the tail end of that WNW for Monday in the shoulder/HH range.  Size will diminish throughout the day.  Tuesday we’ll see most waist/chest high surf to start the day and waist high for Wednesday.  By Thursday we’re looking at some shorter period WNW groundswell with surf in the waist high range and some chest high sets by evening.  And believe it or not there’s some significant activity in the Southern Hemi so we’re actually going to see some background SW as well!  Surf at the south facing summer beaches are looking at some waist high surf with the occasional chest high set!  The south should last for a day or so giving the breaks some added peaky fun through Friday.  On top of the south will be a more swell later in the day out of the NW giving us some surf in the shoulder high range for the sunset sessions.  That quickie swell will peak Friday night and taper off Saturday with surf in the waist/chest range to start the day and waist high to end the day.  Looks like we’ll see a new shorter period WNW groundswell for the second half of Sunday with surf starting waist high and picking up through the day with waist/chest and some shoulder high sets to finish off the day and start the work week.  The Jet Stream is taking an interesting track south with not only allows storms to warm up and ramp up but it also plops the swell smack dab into our swell window…Thank You Mother Nature!  Looks like another potential nice WNW for the middle of next week.  Will keep my eyes peeled an let you know how that pans out!

The weather certainly kept us on our toes this weekend too!  Looks like the 50/50 weather meant half the weekend was gorgeous and half the weekend was ugly and drizzling! We’ll it’s only rain!  Some great clean conditions for most of the weekend though and pretty much the same conditions for the first half of this week…clean relatively calm winds.  Still some clouds and marine layer through Tuesday but the good news is that we’ll be seeing more sunshine staring Wed and through the weekend. Air temps in the mid to high 60s.  Water temps actually seemed to warm up a little so we’re looking at low/mid60s.  Tides are evening out as we come off the full moon.  Transition from medium low to the late morning/midday medium high should lend a nice push for the dawn patrol.  The evening low will be pretty low a few hours after sunset.

Pretty fun weekend with some leftovers to start the week. Not a bad way to kick off December!

Stay wet San Diego!

Mish

Ocean Notes:

1)       As most veterans of my surf blog know I am a huge proponent for clean water especially surfing in clean water!  My motto is…come on, say it if you know it…DON’T SURF IN POO!  Be smart about where and when you surf!  And check out websites like the San Diego CoastKeeper’s San Diego County Beach Status.  They’ll tell you where the poo is flowing if at all.  And give the ocean at least a day or two to clean up after a decent rain with runoff.

2)      While we were grinning from ear to ear over here in SoCal the folks over on the North Shore were having a little party of their own!  Check out the epic surf over there!

3)      Here’s a class to head back to school for… holding your breath!  Those double or triple wave hold downs seem like eternity when you’re sitting on the ocean floor feeling your board tug on your leash as it gets thrown around at the surface.  Why not learn to hold your breath calmly for 2-3 minutes? 

4)      After a long day at work why not kick back and watch a surf, skate or snow flick on the big screen!  La Paloma Theater always has something good showing.  Check out the latest or a vintage flick with a bag of popcorn and some jujubes!

5)      And to throw a little holiday spice into my blog here’s a fun article on DIY (that’s “do-it-yourself”) holiday ornaments .

 

 This was my post-surf breakfast from T's Cafe this weekend...I love Winter surf sessions!

Tides for La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf) starting with December 3, 2012.

www.saltwatertides.com

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

           /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

M    3     High  12:27 AM     3.5   6:36 AM     Set 10:09 AM      84

     3      Low   4:48 AM     2.8   4:42 PM    Rise  9:25 PM

     3     High  10:52 AM     4.8

     3      Low   6:15 PM     0.3

Tu   4     High   1:20 AM     3.6   6:37 AM     Set 10:44 AM      76

     4      Low   5:56 AM     2.9   4:42 PM    Rise 10:22 PM

     4     High  11:40 AM     4.4

     4      Low   7:02 PM     0.6

W    5     High   2:15 AM     3.9   6:38 AM     Set 11:18 AM      68

     5      Low   7:29 AM     2.8   4:43 PM    Rise 11:20 PM

     5     High  12:49 PM     3.9

     5      Low   7:53 PM     0.9

Th   6     High   3:07 AM     4.1   6:38 AM     Set 11:52 AM      58

     6      Low   9:06 AM     2.4   4:43 PM

     6     High   2:23 PM     3.5

     6      Low   8:48 PM     1.1

F    7     High   3:54 AM     4.6   6:39 AM    Rise 12:20 AM      47

     7      Low  10:24 AM     1.7   4:43 PM     Set 12:26 PM

     7     High   3:57 PM     3.3

     7      Low   9:43 PM     1.3