Could be worse.......

Just back from five days in LA - super nice south swell hit down there - surfed overhead Malibu on Friday and Saturday with 500 of my closest friends. We may have the fog and wind and junky windswell - I'll take that over the madness to our South. As for us - not much relief in sight this week - light NW to W west winds next cple days - followed by a shift in the winds to the SE/South/SW towards the weekend. Very small, uneventful surf through the weekend - with maybe a little pulse up towards the end of the week. Winds will remain on the LIGHTER side, so that is one thing going in our favor. Chance of rain as we move through the week - especially Friday thru Sunday. Here's another OB macker from that Big Monday a few weeks back - just to remind all of you it does get damn fine around these parts! cya in the water somewhere.

First Good South headed our way

Morning - first decent south of the season headed our way - with long period energy due to be on the rise Wed/Thurs. Deep water swell should be in the 3-4 ft range at 17-20 sec from 192-198. There are two pulses to this swell and if the 2nd part lives up to forecast that may come in at 4-4.5 at 16-17 from 180-186 over the weekend. That could be on the high side - but we'll see. If you can get to So Cal or points further south - this swell should really be pumping. Winds dont look too bad until Fri/Sat when they turn to the NW - so this swell is going to march up the Coast with very little interference. We have a chance of very light rain showers over the weekend - but that is starting to look less and less likely. Pattern in the North Pac is looking meager - so make the best of what you can get over the next week. Finally - if anyone has OB pics from yesterday send them along and i'll post. I came over the dunes at Judah for a mid day sesh and I swear it looked and felt like Baja. cya in the water.

Cold Water, Offshores late weekend....

Morning - water temp is 46.8 this am - brrrrr! Winds continue at the outer waters and will increase again this afternoon. We could get lucky and have light winds Fri/Sat mornings at the Beach - then more offshore winds for Sun/Mon - with very warm air temps possible all the way to the Coast. We have a new NW swell on tap, building slowy during the day on Friday - with more size on tap Sat/Sun. If all the conditions come together Sat/Sun could have very clean conditions with waves a cple feet overhead at times. Looking out a week - we could have a pretty decent S/SW swell from 4-24 thru 4-28 - more on that mid/next week. Could be a really good time to head to points south and score. The source of this storm is down between New Zealand and South America which is always a good source of southern hemi energy this early in the season. Finally, picture here is from last summer - not really a secret spot in Nor Cal - but a day when all the pieces came together for an epic sesh. We're lucky up here because you can still find magic when you know where to look. Cya in the water.

New swell filling in - heavy winds to come, offshore later in week

Evening - new NW swell showing at buoys - 5 ft 20 sec from 310. This will continue to increase overnight and max out Mon/Tues. Expect deep water swell in the 8-10 ft range at 15 sec Monday - with a lot of wind chop/windswell mixed in. Heavy NW winds at 20-30kt - with occasional gale force gusts Monday night to 35kt. Size still around Tuesday with combined seas in the 10-13 ft range. Winds stay heavy through the week -with the possibility of offshore flow starting after Thursday, as a a low pressure system will be diving into the Great Basin. Models always over forecast offshore flows this time of year, but keep an eye on this site and i'll update later in the week. Winds certainly nearshore could go N/NE. Should be plenty of energy to surf the next couple days, just find someplace nice and protected. cya in the water.

Pics from OB - Monday April 6th.

For those of you out Monday at OB - these pics for you. What a day. All the elements came together for epic surf and weather. Photos by JR Hussey - www.jrhussey.com.

More swell on tap for today and Thursday - but wind is a bit suspect at the moment. However we have some nice long period swell in the water again at 5ft 20 seconds - which will continue to increase overnight. Won't be as big as Monday - nor as clean - but some waves around if you know where to look.
cya in the water.

Strong NW Swell overnight into Monday

Evening -

Very strong off season NW swell just showing at the coastal waters buoys. Last night saw some decent 18 ft at 15-16 sec energy show at Papa Buoy - that swell is filling in now - with buoys to our north in the 9-10 ft range at 15-16 - and SF showing some nice 4ft at 17 sec stuff. Expect this energy to increase overnight and peak on Monday. Certainly at OB look for 1.5 to dble overhead. Still should be some strong energy on Tuesday. Right now winds look very light E on Monday - lighter S/SE flow later in the day. Light S/SW winds on Tuesday. Cutoff low meandering offshore will bring a chance of rain to the region Tues eve into Wed. Look for another strong NW swell later in the week. More on that to come. Get some on Monday - looks like a solid morning.

NW Swell on tap later in the weekend

Morning - NW winds continue today over the outer waters, nearshore winds are coming from 350, which is sideshore/offshore for OB. Not really that clean, and some big windswell in the water at 11 ft at 10 from 320. Image at right shows a Pacific storm (actually two storms) winding up in the Gulf. The first will bring us chance of rain Monday into Wed - and swell from this storm should start heading up on Sunday with the real energy actually coming in on Monday. Could see deep water swell of 6-7 from 16 on Sunday and then 10-11 at 16 on Monday. Direction 295 +. Winds should be "lighter" on Saturday morning from the N/NW - with good size windswell around staying in about the same range as today (10-11 ft). Winds will veer to the south on Sunday and get pretty strong in the 10-20kt range. That second storm is going to chug up into the Bering Sea, but may kick up some swell for mid next week. More on that Monday. You might find some surf Saturday so go seek it and i'll cya in the water!

Winds Continue - NW Swell over the weekend, Storms next week

Afternoon - NW winds are continuing and will get stronger on Thursday into Friday. Dropping down a bit on Saturday. NW winds right now at the SF buoy are gusting to 31kts - water temp a balmy 48.7 degrees. Look for NW winds and swell to build in on Saturday - deep water swell could be in the 10-12 ft range on Sat. Then Sunday winds will shift to the South, as the first in a series of winter like storms - roar ashore. Stay tuned later in the week for a better look at the upcoming swell/wind events.

cya in the water,