The Morning Report
Get the news and information you need to take on the day.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 | Today that long-period southern hemi swell is starting to fill in along the coast and will build throughout the day. NW swell is also on the rise, with Wednesday looking bigger (and stronger). A strong northerly flow is setting up though, and winds will get a tad treacherous before long. There are also some slight chances of precipitation in the forecast. The weekend is looking a bit calmer. More NW’ers are showing up on the models today with possible ETAs for Monday the 16th and Wednesday the 18th. We’re also tracking some southern hemi stuff from New Zealand that could bring us surf around the 22nd.
Right now, the California Buoy is checking in at 10 feet with 14-second periods. Closer to the coast, the Half Moon Bay buoy is at 10 feet with 14-second periods, and the Cape San Martin buoy is at 10 feet with 14-second periods.
While these northern buoys are showing the NW element building along the coast, SoCal near-shore buoys are seeing this and the building south swell with southerly periods running as long as 22 seconds in the past few hours with seas between 3.3-4.6 feet.
Overall, the predominant swell energy in the water shows WNW periods averaging 14 seconds from 290 degrees and SSW periods running 20-22 seconds from 185-200 degrees.
Note that the long periods in today’s southerly swell will make for variation in size between breaks of…[more]
In SoCal, wave heights are running chest to head high at most west facing breaks with some overhead set waves showing up at standouts. South facing breaks are spotty, but when the sets arrive, size can be expected in the chest to head high range with set waves running 1-3 feet overhead.
Northern California and the Central Coast are seeing sets running DOH around west facing breaks. South facing breaks will see some wrap from the NW along with the building south swell throughout the day for at least chest to head high surf.
Please note that the NW swell has some consistency to it, and combining the long-period nature of the south swell there’s a high risk of strong riptides over the next 48 hours, especially during the outgoing tides. Alongshore currents are also a concern. The NWS has issued a riptide warning as well. Caution is advised.
The tide is workable now, but by the end of the week we’ll be seeing a tidal swing due to a New Moon due on Tuesday the 17th. This spring tide will start bringing highs near…[more]
Water temperatures are averaging 59 degrees in San Diego, 58 in Orange County, 60 in LA, 57 in Ventura County, 57 in Santa Barbara, 54 along the Central Coast and 51 degrees in NCal. With a strong, NNW flow setting up it is possible that water temps could…[more]
Winds as of 7:00 this morning were light and variable most everywhere with the exception of some NW winds picking up around the Central Coast to 10, gusting to 20. WNW winds are expected to increase later this morning in SoCal, more so in the afternoon. And then winds become problematic. That wind event we’ve been talking about is…[more]
SW and NW peak Wednesday…[more]
Plenty of NW on the charts this week…[more]
Wind, weather and tide issues this week…[more]
Tracking NW’ers for 16th and 18th…[more]
Tracking southern hemi for 22nd…[more]