Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006 | Today we have some steep angled NW ground swell along the California coast. Although some minor bursts of southern hemi SW will be hitting the coast this week, NW will remain the dominant feature with a boost in size Tuesday, and another surge of swell on Friday. Weather and winds will remain shifty this week as troughs attempting to bring inclement conditions face-off with high pressure jockeying for position within the mid latitude regions.
Right now, the California Buoy is checking in at 12 feet with 14-second periods. Closer to the coast, the Half Moon Bay buoy is at 13 feet with 14-second periods and Cape San Martin buoy is at 12 feet with 12-second periods.
Overall, the swell energy in the water shows NW periods averaging a ground-swell-long 14 seconds from a steep 310 degrees. SW periods are running 15 seconds from 180 degrees.
Note that the long-period and steep-angled nature of the NW swell will make for some dissimilarity in size between west facing breaks of varying bathymetry and westerly exposure. West facing spots that have steeper bathymetry that shoal well and refract the NW swell energy ideally-especially those with excellent westerly exposure-will see bigger sets than the slower, longboard-type breaks (particularly those with minimal westerly exposure).
Additionally, this swell’s long periods, and the sometimes-spotty nature of the steep angled NW energy can produce some deceiving lulls at times; many waves may look surfable, while every now and then sets that wrap in well to the coast could produce waves far greater in size. This swell may also increase the risk of riptides, especially during the outgoing tides at west facing breaks, and alongshore currents will be a concern as well.
In SoCal, most of the NW energy is skirting past in the outer waters, but some energy is filtering in for wave heights running chest to head high at many west facing breaks with occasional pluses at standouts. South facing breaks are running waist high from NW diffraction.
Northern California and the Central Coast are seeing sets running in the DOH range. South facing breaks are running chest high + from NW diffraction.
The tide is manageable at the moment, but by the end of the week we’ll be seeing another tidal swing from a New Moon that’ll occur on…[more]
Water temperatures are averaging 64 degrees in San Diego, 64 in Orange County, 63 in LA, 63 in Ventura County, 63 in Santa Barbara, 59 along the Central Coast, and 58 degrees in NCal.
Winds as of 7:00 this morning were light and variable most everywhere with a NNE flow in SoCal and along the Central Coast. NNE winds may reach 8-14 mph in many places today, yet should subside some by nightfall. On Monday, a…[more]
NW dominant this week with boost in size Tuesday and Friday…[more]
Some southern hemi SW this week as well…[more]
Shifty winds and weather this week…[more]