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Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006 | Today the recent southern hemi swell is in its last throes as NW builds along the coast. A smaller SW’er is due on Friday and another on Monday. A healthier south swell is due for the 2nd. Weather and winds will shift a couple more times over the next few days with onshore now turning offshore shortly before a trough moves in during the weekend. We’ve also got the latest on Hurricane Paul, kicking up seas and heading near Baja.
Right now, the California Buoy is checking in at 8 feet with 9-second periods. Closer to the coast, the Half Moon Bay buoy is at 13 feet with 11-second periods and Cape San Martin buoy is at 9 feet with 11-second periods.
The energy on these buoys is primarily the NW element of today’s swell combo. The southerly portion has seas running in the 2.3-3.4 foot range.
Overall, the swell energy in the water shows southerly periods averaging 14 seconds from 200 degrees. NW periods are running 12 seconds from 300 degrees.
In SoCal, wave heights are running chest to at times head high at most south facing breaks. West facing breaks are running chest high with bigger sets at times at dual exposure spots.
Northern California and the Central Coast are seeing surf running 1-3 feet overhead at west facing breaks. South facing breaks are running chest to at times head high, not only from the southern hemi swell, but also from a good deal of NW diffraction.
Please note that the building NW combined with the diminishing SW is causing quite a bit of consistency at many breaks, and as a result, there is still a risk of riptides, especially at direct south facing beach breaks, and especially during the outgoing tides.
The tide is still an issue today as we are slowly pulling out of a tidal swing from a New Moon that peaked Saturday. This spring tide is bringing highs well into the 6-foot range during the mid to late morning hours. This will…[more]
Water temperatures are averaging 65 degrees in San Diego, 64 in Orange County, 65 in LA, 65 in Ventura County, 64 in Santa Barbara, 60 along the Central Coast, and 59 degrees in NCal.
Winds as of 7 this morning were light and variable most everywhere. Onshores this afternoon are expected to reach 8-12 mph. On Wednesday, the onshore flow will peak before an offshore event…[more]
NW to build as SW falls off…[more]
Small south swell due Friday…[more]
Small SW swell for 30th…[more]
Better sized SW for 2nd…[more]
Tracking Hurricane Paul…[more]